»Klassiker«

With new awareness

Sergei Prokofiev composed his Sonata for Two Violins in C major, op. 56 in the summer of 1932, which he spent near Saint-Tropez at the invitation of Jacques Sadoul, the French communist and foreign correspondent for the elitist newspaper »Izvestia«, which still exists today. In a country house right on the Mediterranean coast – in the quiet seclusion of the local pine forests and with a picturesque view of the ocean nearby – Prokofiev was able to devote himself completely to his composing. Alongside the Piano Concerto no. 5, op. 55 and the Sonatinas for Piano, op. 54, this work introduces a new musical ideal, as Prokofiev also described in some of the letters to his friend and colleague Nikolai Myaskovsky: »I was striving for a ›new simplicity‹, but I was forced to realise that this had not been understood, because of its new forms and, primarily, because of its new tonal structure. But I did not give up the hope that with time the majority of my works would appear as soon as the ear had become accustomed to the new melodic formations, that is to say, once these formations were accepted as a tonal language.« Characteristics of this new compositional style of Prokofiev are firstly its compliance on the whole with the aesthetic doctrine of Soviet Realism, and secondly a move away from the »dissonant hardness« of his early works.

Franz Schubert's Octet D 803 for strings and wind instruments can definitely be seen as a symphonic study by the composer, which is borne out by a letter from Schubert to his friend Leopold Kupelwieser:»I have not done anything really new with songs, but I have tried my hand at a number of instrumental things, as I have composed 2 quartets for violins, viola and cellos and an octet and I intend to write another quartet. I actually want to open up the path to the great symphony in this way.« The composer is clearly referring here to his symphony in C major, which he was to complete two years later. Schubert received the commission for his octet from Count Ferdinand Troyer, the Chief Steward to the Archduke Rudolf, who was himself a very capable and gifted clarinettist. The clear influence of Beethoven can be seen in particular in the sequence of movements in the octet, which leans strongly on Beethoven's famous Septet in E flat major, op. 20. However, Schubert added a violin to the classic septet arrangement and developed a work for eight musicians with particular zeal. After completion, the piece was premiered twice: It was first performed privately in 1824 and only presented to a wider public for the first time three years later in the Musikverein in Vienna. The work not only references the great model of Beethoven, but also looks to Mozart, another famous representative of the »Viennese divertimento« tradition, which Schubert once again revives here with a symphonic touch. The first sonata-form allegro is thus followed by an adagio, and then a scherzo. In the subsequent slow movement, Schubert introduces variations, and then a second minuet and a finale. In Schubert's style, the listener can tune in to an intertwined sound of strings and woodwind which develops to create a wonderfully woven soundscape.

Sergei Prokofiev (1891–1953)
Sonata for Two Violins in C major, op. 56
Andante cantabile – Allegro – Commodo (quasi Allegretto) – Allegro con brio

– Interval –

Franz Schubert (1797–1828)
Octet for String Quintet, Clarinet, Horn and Bassoon in F major, D 803
Adagio. Allegro – Adagio – (Scherzo) Allegro vivace. Trio – Thema. Andante (with 7 variations) – Menuetto. Allegretto. Trio – Andante molto. Allegro