WorldView Episode 36: Happy Halloween!
It’s a very special Monday, and this week’s episode of WorldView celebrates accordingly! As the show enters its ninth full month of broadcasts, this hour features music that is decidedly more suspenseful than usual, including a famous work by Czech composer Heinrich Ernst.
Heinrich Wilhelm Ernst was born in 1812, in the Moravian region of the Czech Republic. Of Jewish ancestry, he learned violin, viola, and piano at a young age before studying composition with Ignaz von Seyfreid. In 1828, Ernst saw violin virtuoso Niccoló Paganini in concert—an event which sparked a decades-long rivalry and friendship. The young violinist followed Paganini across much of Europe, attending his concerts and memorizing his unpublished compositions by ear. After Ernst performed both his and Paganini’s works for the public, audiences became divided over who was the better soloist. To this day, Ernst is considered one of the best violinists of all time, though not as well-known as his predecessor.
Throughout his career, Ernst became close with artists such as Felix Mendelssohn, Hector Berlioz, and fellow violinist Joseph Joachim. After settling in London in the 1850s, Ernst and Joachim began what is often considered one of the best string quartets of all time: The Beethoven Quartet Society. The group was made up of the two violinists, along with cellist Alfredo Piatti and violist Henryk Wieniawski (WorldView episode thirty-two). However, severe neuralgia cut short Ernst’s career, rendering him completely unable to play by 1862. He retired to Nice, France, and composed his remaining compositions before passing away in October of 1865.
This episode of WorldView features Ernst’s 1854 work, “Grand Caprice for Solo Violin on Schubert’s “Erlkonig””. It remains one of his most difficult and famous compositions, along with “Die Letzte Rose” (The Last Rose). The piece was modeled after a vocal work by Franz Schubert, which itself was based off a poem by Johan Wolfgang von Goethe. It follows the flight of a father and son from the dreaded Erlkonig (Elf King), and features only one violin performing four separate yet simultaneous voices. Josef Špacek performs. Enjoy, and have a safe and happy holiday!
WorldView Episode Thirty-Six Playlist:
George CRUMB, “A Haunted Landscape”, {Philip Myers (hrn), New York Philharmonic, Arthur Weisburg} - New World Records
Finn MORTENSEN, “Fantasy & Fugue”, {Kjell Bækkelund (pf)} - Aurora Contemporary
Modest MUSSORGSKY, “A Night on Bald Mountain”, {The Philadelphia Orchestra, Eugene Ormandy} - BMG Classics
Heinrich Wilhelm ERNST, “Erlkonig - Grand Caprice, Op. 26”, {Josef Špacek (vn)} - Naxos
Robert BLOOM, “Requiem”, {Humberto Lucarelli (ob), Brooklyn Philharmonic, Michael Barett} - Koch International Classics
WorldView is a classical music radio show featuring composers from everywhere in the world - except Western Europe. Tune in to hear works by lesser-known artists such as Irving Fine and Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, and widen your knowledge of classical music. Hinke Younger hosts each week’s episode of WorldView on Mondays at 9AM and 6PM (with a rebroadcast Saturdays at 2PM) on Charlottesvilleclassical.org.