Paul Juon - Piano Quartet No. 1, 2

Paul Juon 

[Pavel Fyodorovich Yuon]

(6 March 1872 – 21 August 1940)

was a Russian-born Swiss composer, pianist and composition professor at Berlin employed by Joseph Joachim

 

Piano Quartet No. 1 "Rhapsodie", Op. 37 (1908)

Dedication: Fräulein Marie Bender gewidmet

1. Moderato (0:00​) 2. Allegretto (10:03​) 3. Sostenuto (15:42​) The Ames Piano Quartet Details Edition Silvertrust: The Rhapsody for Piano Quartet, sometimes referred to as his Piano Quartet No.1, dates from 1907-8, just after he had taken up his professorship in Berlin. Juon had recently read the popular novel, Gosta Berling's Saga and was deeply impressed by it when he sat down to write the Rhapsody. Many commentators believe Juon attempted to express the feelings he had experienced reading the novel. Gosta Berling's Saga[예스타 베를링 이야기:저자 셀마 라게를뢰프] by the Swedish Nobel Literature Prize winner Selma Lagerlöf, is about a fallen pastor who is forced out of his ministry and must make a new life for himself. It is set in the Sweden of the 1830's and is at one and the same time highly romantic and also mystical. The atmosphere is a cross between Henrik Ibsen and Jack London, combining the eccentric upper-class nobility of Sweden with magical snow scenes involving wolves. While the Rhapsody is not really programmatic music, it is at least worth knowing the source of the romantic outpouring which has made the Rhapsody one of Juon's most personal and emotional works. One thing the music is not, is Nordic-sounding. If anything, it is tinged with Slavic, and in particular Russian folkdance melodies, no doubt the result of his having lived the greater portion of his life there. The opening Moderato begins with a emotionally charged and dramatic statement in the cello which the others soon take up. Surprisingly, as the piano enters with a jazz-like interlude, we hear what sounds like Gershwin (who was only 10 at the time!). The second theme is a kind of tense and nervous music of forward motion with a sense of impending disaster. Written on a large scale this movement boldly travels across a huge emotional canvas, perhaps in this sense like a Norse Saga. The main theme to the second movement, Allegretto, introduced by the piano is clearly a Russian folk dance melody. It sounds vaguely Hebraic. Yet when the strings enter, we briefly hear a traditional, even Schubertian, German romanticism. The second theme is a very romantic song of love. Next comes a scherzo-like interlude which features a dance from the Caucasus. (Juon taught there in Baku for a year). The huge finale, Sostenuto-Allegretto, as the movement marking suggests, alternates between slow and fast sections. The mood is constantly changing from the reflective sostenuto, to a gay, almost care-free some Viennese-sounding dance (our sound-bite begins here) and before a more dramatic and serious element is welded on the the preceding dance.

 

 

 

Piano Quartet No. 2, in G major, Op. 50 (1912)

Dedication: An Katy

1. Moderato (0:00​) 2. Zitternde Herzen. Scherzo. Presto non troppo (10:43​) 3. Adagio lamentoso (14:50​) 4. Allegro non troppo (24:52​)

Daniel Goede, violin; Hariolf Schlichtig, viola; Peter Bruns, cello & Oliver Triendl, piano.

 

The images I used are purely subjective and don't reflect the composer's autobiographical nature of the work. They are also 15 year later but in the same time frame Juon was living there. Berlin; Symphony of a Great City (1927) Watch the movie here: https://youtu.be/LdFasmBJYFg​

 

[Details by Edition Silvertrust]

 

Paul Juon's Second Piano Quartet dates from 1912. It was dedicated to his first wife who had recently died, and is, by comparison to his First Piano Quartet the Op.37 Rhapsodie, a more personal work. It was clearly meant to be autobiographical. The opening movement, Moderato, is tender and dreamy, a statement of his initial infatuation. The second movement, Scherzo, bears the subtitle "Trembling Hearts" and expertly encapsulates that feeling which expectant lovers experience. The following Adagio lamentoso begins in a melancholy mood and slowly rises to the fever pitch of a lament. The riveting finale, Allegro non troppo, with its chromaticism recalls the mysticism of his Russian homeland. A highly romantic dance of doom, dark and forboding comes next. Then a second theme, more tender, but by no means happy, makes an appearance. It, in turn, is followed by an inexorable march of destiny and an incredible, hair-raising ride. The Second Piano Quartet is an excellent example of why Juon has often been referred to as the missing link between Tchaikovsky and Stravinsky. In his early music, one can hear the influence of his Russian homeland and schooling. Of course, Juon recognized that though he had been born in Russia and schooled there, he was a still foreigner living among Russians. His second period is more cosmopolitan and is in tune with the contemporary Central European trends of the early 20th century. Ultimately, it is hard to characterize his music as Russian or German, Romantic, Modern or Folkloric, because one can find all of these elements in his music.