Obscure Music Monday: Kalkbrenner's Septet
Known foremost as a pianist in his time, Friedrich Kalkbrenner was also an accomplished composer. Looking through his output, one sees a significant amount of solo piano music, with a few chamber works (and a very limited selection of vocal works). Today we turn to Kalkbrenner's chamber output, with his Septet, Op. 132, also known as the Grand Septet.
As with many composers of the day, the piano chamber ensembles become more of a concerto for piano with small ensemble - an opportunity for Kalkbrenner to show his skills as a pianist as well as a composer. This Septet features the unusual instrumentation of Piano, Oboe, Clarinet, Bassoon, Horn, Cello, and Bass, instruments which Kalkbrenner balances well. We see in the first movement lyrical melodies passed back and forth between the wind instruments, with the strings often supplementing the piano, answering with pizzicato arpeggiations.
The work opens with a fanfare that could pass for a Sousa march, before moving into more traditional territory for the time (1835). We hear flourishes in the piano in a lively opening, before moving into a more lyrical section where the winds bring out a lyrical five note descending motive that is passed from instrument to instrument over the arpeggiated piano line. This descending motive features in numerous spots throughout the movement.
About 8 minutes into the movement, the five note motive is shortened to a two note motive. At this point, the harmonic mood suddenly changes. While Kalkbrenner was German by birth and spent most of his life in Paris, we suddenly hear harmonies reminiscent of eastern European folk music.
As we return to the recapitulation, we hear an ascending bass line (with appropriate chords, of course) that reminds me of the symphonies of Bruckner, before a beautiful lyrical transitional trio of the oboe, horn, and cello. Finally we conclude the movement with an upbeat coda that features what amounts to a cadenza in the piano.
The Andante opens with a beautiful line in the cello and bassoon, accompanied by the bass, slowly joined by the others. This section represents fine writing by Kalkbrenner, with the orchestration being much more balanced than the piano heavy first movement. The D minor movement has an almost funeral march like quality at times, with moments of sweetness, such as the oboe solo with piano.
We then enter the lively third movement, a scherzo marked con fuoco. We're lulled into the steady quarter note rhythm in all of the instruments, before Kalkbrenner surprises us with a descending dotted rhythm line in the piano that captures our attention, echoed by the winds. The trio is a more lyrical melody, again visiting some of the folk harmonies of eastern Europe, before we return to the scherzo.
The finale, a rondo, returns us to the predominant piano role, with virtuosic runs in the piano in a variety of spots, but we still see some very good writing by Kalkbrenner. While many have dismissed Kalkbrenner as a composer of the years, this work represents some of his finest writing and is certainly worth a listen.
We've been able to locate two commercial recordings of this work currently available:
Linos Ensemble