Nicodé, Jean Louis

Jean-Louis Nicodé – Orchestral Suite in B minor, Op. 17

(b. Jezyce near Poznan [Jersitz near Posen], 12 August 1853 – d. Langebrück [Dresden], 14 October 1919)

Preface
Nicodé wrote his Orchestral Suite in B minor in 1886. It’s in four movements, lasting about 38 minutes. The first movement, Prãludium is in an ABA format. It begins with an athletic theme, then a more legato woodwind melody for contrast. The steady use of dotted rhythms gives music a near-baroque sound. The cellos play a melody in the major mode, the strings’ music then being developed along with lighter woodwind counterfigures. As the music slows down, the “baroque” sound returns, leading to a recap of the opening music of the movement.

The second movement, Scherzo is good-humored. Its perpetuum mobile dactylic rhythm is reminiscent of Schumann, a favorite composer of Nicodé. A Schumannesque romp ensues, with dropping octaves. The trio has a longer-spanned melody. The music then uses ascending chromatic scales with the dropping octave figure. A descending woodwind theme takes the movement to a climax in D major.

The third movement Theme with Variations is a quite conscious hommage to Beethoven. The andante theme itself, with its balanced phrases, harks back to the Classical era. Variation I contrasts it by a wider-ranging string melody with emotional charm. Variation 2 is more raffish. The woodwind writing at times anticipates Elgar. Variation 3, in triple time has a spun-out theme over a hesitant chordal accompaniment, while Variation 4 is in a sterner minor mode. Variation 5 has a melismatic violin solo line recalling the violin arabesque in the slow movement of Schumann’s 4th Symphony. There are concerto-like orchestral interjections. The movement concludes with a fluent cadence to G major.

The last movement, Rondo, opens with an arresting trill-laden gesture. The principle subject is an attractive melody, whose contours have some of the Hungarian flavoring sometimes heard in Brahms. The contrasting episodes include some graceful woodwind writing and a gemütlich theme leading to a variation in a stricter dotted rhythm. Towards the end, there’s a decrescendo that includes a fine bassoon solo. There’s a gradual fragmentation of themes before the tempo picks up to a lively B major conclusion.

Nicodé’s Suite is of symphonic scope and compares favorably to the great Serenades of Brahms. Nicodé would have been pleased at this comparison, as he bridged the Brahms and Wagner factions. While his music increasingly showed the influence of Wagner and the New German School, Clara Schumann and Brahms both accepted dedications of his work – the Phantasiestücke Op. 6 and Symphonic Variations Op. 27 respectively. The B minor Suite is full of engaging melodies, often combined. As Nicodé would prove formidably in his more epic creations – Das Meer and the Gloria! Symphonies – he was a dab hand at combining his themes. The scoring is full of piquant touches for the woodwinds and the string writing often has the “bite” of Brahms. The Suite successfully combines craft of composition with charm and depth of expression. Anyone further interested in this worthy composer can see my Website, vonhausegger.com.

Don O’Connor, 2019

For performance material please contact Breitkopf und Härtel, Wiesbaden.