Farrenc, Korngold & Beethoven: Mar 6–8, 2026
- Mar 6
- 9 min read
DIVE IN Below to read and watch stuff!
🤓immediate nerding!🤓
Check out this interview excerpt with Allegra Wermuth, Assistant Principal 2nd Violin of the Colorado Symphony. For all the nerdiest nuggets about this program, including the full interview, go here for a Backstage Pass Subscription or a Complete Concert Guide purchase! 😎
The Program...
Louise Farrenc
Overture No. 1 in E minor
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Louise Farrenc (1804-1875) was a French composer, pianist and educator during the early Romantic stylistic era. Despite being barred from formal institutional training due to gender discrimination laws against women, she was still able to learn piano and composition privately and managed to attract the attention of several major instructors including Anton Reicha, a close colleague of Ludwig van Beethoven and a professor at the Paris Conservatory.
Paris Conservatory. Where she wasn’t allowed to study, but where she was eventually hired to teach. That’s right. She was so influential a musician that they hired her to teach there in 1842. She stayed for 30 years until just before her death, and sadly was the only woman to teach at Paris Conservatory during the 19th century. Guess what? You’ll never guess. Except duh you totally will. She was also underpaid according to her male counterparts there. Fun times! But then she had an undeniable hit composition in her 1850 chamber work for nine players and took an opportunity to be super French about demanding equal pay, writing “I dare hope, M. Director, that you will agree to fix my fees at the same level as these gentlemen, because, setting aside questions of self-interest, if I don’t receive the same incentive they do, one might think that I have not invested all the zeal and diligence necessary to fulfill the task which has been entrusted to me.”
It worked. See 1855 side eye portrait.
After her death in 1875 there was nobody making sure to keep her works in the public ear and eventually she and her music fell from memory until a resurgence of interest in the 20th century.
Her surviving compositions include multiple vocal and choral works, dozens of small ensemble pieces and solo piano works, 2 concert works for piano and orchestra, 3 symphonies, and 2 overtures, including Overture No. 1 in E minor.
About the music:
Louise Farrenc composed Overture No. 1 in E minor in 1834. It was among the first pieces of music she composed for large ensemble and began a wave of symphonic compositions.
In a nod to the Baroque era French overture structure, Farrenc uses a slow tempo introduction that features uneven, or “dotted”, rhythms which lend a snap to the forward motion. This music comes to a brief rest before leaping straight into a very quick tempo through to the end with a few dramatic pauses here and there to heighten the effect.
Listen for the dazzling violin and cello work with fast notes, flourishes in the woodwinds, and powerful chords in the brass instruments.
Resources:
Erich Wolfgang Korngold
Violin Concerto
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People often ask me “Who is the modern Mozart?” That’s an impossible question to answer, but if there could be that person it very well may be Erich Korngold, and not just because his middle name is Wolfgang!
Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1897-1957) was an Austrian composer, pianist, and child prodigy. He was preternaturally gifted at the piano and composition from a very young age. Korngold was also able to retain and recreate music after only one hearing, just like baby Mozart. He began composing original music by age 7. His first ballet, composed at age 11, was wildly successful at its premiere in Vienna and led to further commissions for orchestra, opera, solo and chamber music as well as coveted teaching positions. Just look at his sweet little face and that dashing pose, already a pro! 😎
Though spending the vast majority of his career writing classical concert works, Erich Korngold is best known for his contributions to the Golden Age Hollywood film industry. Korngold was forced to leave behind a well developed and successful career in Austria in 1938 due to the rise of the Nazi regime and its regressive social policies. He had already been to Los Angeles in 1934 at the invitation of film director Max Reinhardt where he began composing film scores. In 1938 he returned to score The Adventures of Robin Hood, just in time for the Nazis to annex Austria and confiscate his home in Vienna. As a result he stayed in the US through the end of the second world war, becoming a naturalized citizen in 1943. He remarked that the timing and opportunity to score this film quite literally saved his life.
Korngold virtually recreated the role of music in film by treating it as opera, using Leitmotif (musical identities for major characters) and pitching the music in a range similar to the actors’ speaking voices. Korngold's influence was so great on Golden Age Hollywood film scores that it is virtually useless to try to separate his compositional style and sound into differentiated categories of "Hollywood" music or "concert" music. His legacy is cemented into place with Gene Roddenberry specifically requesting the music for Star Trek to take on the Korngold sound, and composer John Williams crediting Korngold for inspiring his Star Wars films score among others.
About the music:
After the conclusion of the war, Korngold returned to primarily composing concert music. His Violin Concerto was the first completed concert work, begun with sketches in 1937/1938 and given its final revision in 1945.
Korngold began composing the Violin Concerto at the request of a violinist colleague, Bronislaw Huberman. Korngold dedicated it to composer Alma Mahler, whose composer husband Gustav Mahler had been a mentor to Korngold in his youth.
By the time the concerto was finished, Huberman was past his performing prime and reportedly knew he wasn't quite up to the task of premiering it. Luckily, world famous virtuoso violinist Jascha Heifetz showed interest in premiering it and did so in 1947 with the St. Louis Symphony after requesting edits for a more technically demanding final movement. About that, Korngold said, “In spite of the demand for virtuosity in the finale, the work with its many melodic and lyric episodes was contemplated more for a Caruso than for a Paganini. It is needless to say how delighted I am to have my concerto performed by Caruso and Paganini in one person: Jascha Heifetz.”
[quick vocab breakout for ya - Enrico Caruso was a popular Italian opera singer; Niccolò Paganini was a famous virtuoso violinist from the early 1800s]
The Violin Concerto is in a typical three movement structure of Fast-Slow-Fast and is based on themes he had previously written for four of his film scores: Anthony Adverse (1936), Another Dawn (1937), The Prince and the Pauper (1937), and Juarez (1939).
Movement 1: Moderato nobile - The primary theme which is first presented right away in the solo violin from Another Dawn. It’s an expansive melody that immediately signals to us we are in for an epic. The Maximilian and Carlota theme from Juarez becomes the secondary theme.
Movement 2: Romance - Again the primary theme is first presented in the solo violin, this time after a brief pulsating string introduction. This theme is taken from Anthony Adverse which bookends the movement around newly composed material.
Movement 3: Allegro assai vivace - This movement is a virtuosic display of violin and orchestra pyrotechnics. It sounds like pirate adventure music with its swinging fast-dancing jig rhythms. This thematic material is taken from The Prince and the Pauper.
All three movements are, as you might imagine, very cinematic sounding. But this is 100% due to the fact that Korngold created what we think of as a cinematic sound to begin with! In fact, it's not completely clear that these film score themes weren't first developed as sketches for the violin concerto before he decided to use them for the film projects. It's all his music, and all his genius application so it works no matter the genre designation! 🤷🏽♀️🤓😎
A typical performance lasts about 26 minutes.
Resources:
🤓Have Some Fun!🤓
Did you know....
Many famous classical music composers have created film music during their careers. John Corigliano [Altered States, The Red Violin] and Aaron Copland [The Red Pony] even won Oscars for their film scores!
So, what makes a “Hollywood” sound?
Take a moment to consider Hollywood film music. How is it different from music for the concert stage? Similar? Does film music have to sound different? Why or why not? Film music plays an important and complex role in the finished product. A film score must be able to add emotional support to a variety of situations. For this, most composers choose to have use of a full orchestra so that a maximum number of sound combinations are available to them. What instruments or combinations do you think might best suit a flying scene? Making a wish? A celebration?
Try it out!
Get your nerd crew together or do this on your own. Choose one or more of the above scenarios or make up your own. Think of some sounds you might want to use in order to compose a concerto movement that emotionally expresses that scenario. Typically in a concerto there is one solo instrument in a musical dialogue with a group of instruments. Be as creative and detailed as possible in describing instrument choices and musical ideas. What solo instruments did you (or your nerd crew!) end up choosing and why? What elements of your choices might be most successful in conveying the emotional content of the scenario? How/Why? In what ways did the use of a solo instrument and concerto ‘dialogue’ inform your musical choices?
Now give the Korngold concerto a fresh listen!
The piece is composed in three movements, each with a distinct emotional character. Challenge yourself to focus on the ways Korngold manipulates the listener's emotional response through the musical choices he made. Make a list of particular things you notice while listening. What things do you hear that remind you of film music? What specific film scores or movie moments come to mind and how is the music informing those memories?
If you do this activity please share about it in the comments below! I love hearing about your experiences nerding out!
Ludwig van Beethoven
Symphony No. 3 "Eroica"
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Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) was a German composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. His career has conventionally been divided into early, middle, and late periods. His early period, during which he forged his craft, is typically considered to have lasted until 1802, just before he composed his Symphony No. 3 which is considered to be a gateway to the Romantic era. In fact from that point forward he began to develop a personal style that deviated from the influence of Classical era composer Franz Joseph “Papa” Haydn, the inventor of the symphony form.
About the Music:
Ludwig van Beethoven composed Symphony No. 3 "Eroica" in 1803/1804 when he was just 34 years old.
The premiere performance of Symphony No. 3 had mixed reviews. One reviewer wrote "this new work of B. has great and daring ideas, and ... great power in the way it is worked out; but the symphony would improve immeasurably if B. could bring himself to shorten it, and to bring more light, clarity, and unity to the whole." Another reviewer wrote it was "for the most part so shrill and complicated that only those who worship the failings and merits of this composer with equal fire, which at times borders on the ridiculous, could find pleasure in it". However barely two years later that same reviewer described it as "the greatest, most original, most artistic and, at the same time, most interesting of all symphonies".
In spite of its early critical reviews, Symphony No. 3 is now one of the most frequently performed symphonies of the entire symphonic repertoire and in the top 3 most performed symphonies of Beethoven along with the iconic 5th and the beloved 9th.
Symphony No. 3 "Eroica" positively smashed conventional compositional standards in symphonic form, length, harmony, and emotional and cultural content.
Beethoven originally dedicated the symphony to Napoleon Bonaparte due to his and Bonaparte's shared democratic and anti-monarchic ideals. Later, when Beethoven learned that Bonaparte had declared himself Emperor of France he became enraged, saying "So he is no more than a common mortal! Now, too, he will tread under foot all the rights of Man, indulge only his ambition; now he will think himself superior to all men, become a tyrant!" Then he tore a hole in the title-page threw it on the floor. That page was recopied and the dedication changed to "Eroica" indicating it was about heroicism rather than a specific heroic individual.
Symphony No. 3 "Eroica" lasts for 45-55 minutes and is in four movements: Allegro con brio; Marche funebre: Adagio assai; Scherzo: Allegro vivace; and Finale: Allegro molto. In decoded non-musician language that means there are 4 big sections of music, like chapters, that are somewhat characterized by their general speed of Fast; Slow; Peppy; and Very Fast.
Resources:
🤓Enjoy and Discuss!🤓
Listen to the 3 minute video below of just the opening chords, recorded by many different orchestras. First listen for general observations: tempo, sharpness of attack, length of each sounding, apparent upgrades in recording technology, anything really! Then listen again, a few times if possible, paying attention to each different approach and making detailed observations: do the two chords sound exactly the same and if not what are the differences, how do the chords seem balanced - more toward high pitches or low pitches for example, are they all the same approximate volume, etc. What else do you notice? Now that you've compiled all these observations, imagine the reason/s a Music Director might decide to treat those chords one way or another. Why do you think might it be important (or not!) to take these kinds of things into consideration?
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