Access the full text.
Sign up today, get DeepDyve free for 14 days.
References for this paper are not available at this time. We will be adding them shortly, thank you for your patience.
Boris Schwarz once characterized Brahms's Violin Concerto, op. 77, as an “intangible interplay between the art of Brahms and that of Joachim.” The celebrated violinist was not only the inspiration for this concerto; he also played a crucial role in its compositional genesis and early performance history. But while Joachim's compositional contributions to the concerto have been well documented, his importance as a performer is usually acknowledged only in vague terms. We sense that Joachim the performer is somehow “in” this concerto without being able to articulate how. This article examines the intersections between Joachim's style and persona as a performer, the cultural meanings ascribed to performance, and specific formal and expressive features of the Violin Concerto. Particularly important was Joachim's perceived ability to present composed musical works as though they were being improvised, created on the spot through a mysterious fusion of Joachim himself with the mind and spirit of the composer. In the later nineteenth century, as the practice of improvisation began to disappear from the concert stage, improvisation could represent a lost ideal of spontaneous, unmediated subjective expression. An analysis of the concerto's first movement shows that it thematizes tensions between two contrasting visions of creativity—one involving spontaneous inspiration and improvisation at an instrument, the other, the rigors of logical, planned out, and written composition. These expressive features take on additional meanings when considered in the context of Joachim's performances of the concerto, and they allow for a recovery of some of its historical meanings that resided not only in the notated score, but also in performed events.
19th-Century Music – University of California Press
Published: Mar 1, 2015
Read and print from thousands of top scholarly journals.
Already have an account? Log in
Bookmark this article. You can see your Bookmarks on your DeepDyve Library.
To save an article, log in first, or sign up for a DeepDyve account if you don’t already have one.
Copy and paste the desired citation format or use the link below to download a file formatted for EndNote
Access the full text.
Sign up today, get DeepDyve free for 14 days.
All DeepDyve websites use cookies to improve your online experience. They were placed on your computer when you launched this website. You can change your cookie settings through your browser.