David Popper Elfentanz op68 Sheet Music, Recordings and Program Notes

Program Notes & Analysis

A Sparkling Showcase of Whimsical Agility and Technical Artistry

David Popper, often regarded as the most important cello composer-performer of the Romantic era alongside Alfredo Piatti and Jules de Swert, excelled at composing short, brilliant works that captivated the public. It is said that the initial spark for the Elfentanz (Dance of the Elves) came to Popper during a late-night stroll through a moonlit forest near Vienna. Inspired by the rustling leaves and shimmering light filtering through the trees, he claimed he could almost hear the tiny, frantic footsteps of mythical elves dancing in a wild, ecstatic circle. He rushed home and immediately set about translating this ephemeral, fantastical vision into music. His challenge was to capture the lightness and speed of these imagined creatures using the cello, an instrument primarily known for its depth and vocal warmth. The resulting composition, Op. 39, is a monumental success in this endeavor, instantly becoming one of his most frequently performed and demanding showpieces—a true portrait in sound of fairy-tale mischief.

The Character Piece and Romantic Whimsy

The Elfentanz belongs to the genre of the character piece—a concise musical composition, typically for piano or a solo instrument with accompaniment, designed to evoke a specific mood, image, or personality. During the Romantic period, there was a profound interest in the mythical and the fantastical, often drawing upon German and Scandinavian folklore populated by spirits, sprites, and elves. Composers like Felix Mendelssohn had already set the standard for "elf-music" with his famous Scherzo from the Midsummer Night's Dream incidental music. Popper channels this tradition, using the cello's highest registers and demanding, light articulation to create an atmosphere of ethereal lightness and non-stop motion. The title, "Dance of the Elves," perfectly primes the listener to expect fleet-footed energy, a characteristic that Popper delivers from the very first note.

Form and Tempo: Perpetuum Mobile

Structurally, the Elfentanz is a single-movement piece often considered a modified Ternary (ABA') form, though the primary characteristic is its adherence to the perpetuum mobile (perpetual motion) concept. The tempo is extremely fast, typically marked Allegro molto or Vivace, immediately establishing the high-speed chase that defines the work. The uninterrupted flow of rapid notes in the cello part is the engine of the piece, rarely letting up until the final, emphatic chord. The rhythmic drive, typically built on a foundation of fast sixteenth-notes, must be both relentless and impeccably light. Any hint of heaviness or struggle from the soloist breaks the magical illusion of the elves' dance, underscoring the work’s requirement for technical mastery hidden beneath a veil of charming poetry.

The Main Theme (A Section): Agility and Spiccato

The opening A section, largely in D major, immediately showcases the cello’s agility. The theme itself is more a rhythmic pattern than a broad melody, consisting of rapid, repeated figures that oscillate and dart across the strings. The most crucial technical element here is the spiccato bowing—a deliberate bouncing of the bow off the string for each note. Achieving the required speed and lightness in these passages is the litmus test of the performer. The accompaniment, usually played by the piano, provides a simple, supportive rhythmic and harmonic framework, ensuring that the listener’s ear is focused almost entirely on the dazzling, quicksilver movement of the cello. The figures move sequentially, building intensity and showcasing the soloist's ability to maintain a consistent, vibrant tone quality even while performing at high velocity.

The Key Technical Demands

The virtuosity of the Elfentanz is multifaceted. Beyond the foundational spiccato technique, the piece requires:

• High-Position Clarity: Much of the solo line resides in the highest positions of the fingerboard, demanding flawless intonation and secure left-hand shifting. The notes must sparkle, not squeak, which requires a delicate balance of pressure and speed.

• Rapid String Crossings: The music frequently jumps between adjacent strings, often demanding that the bow execute these rapid string-level changes cleanly without disrupting the spiccato rhythm.

• Arpeggios and Scales: The central sections feature furious bursts of scales and arpeggios, particularly in the D major and related keys, requiring the cellist to navigate the instrument’s geography at top speed.

These demands, particularly when sustained over the work's duration, necessitate exceptional physical conditioning and years of technical practice, demonstrating why the Elfentanz is so often relegated to the repertoire of advanced cellists.

The Trio (B Section): A Moment of Lyrical Breath

In the middle of the whirling motion, Popper offers a contrasting B section, which provides a brief, but necessary, moment of respite. This section typically shifts harmonically—perhaps to the relative minor, B minor—and introduces a more sustained, lyrical melody. The continuous sixteenth-note motion in the accompaniment may slow or simplify, allowing the cello to switch from rapid-fire spiccato to a more sustained, singing tone. This brief lyrical interlude provides dynamic contrast and highlights the Romantic belief in music's expressive power, offering a glimpse into a slightly darker, more emotional world before the return of the lighthearted dance. The ability to switch instantly between these two disparate characters—the technical acrobat and the lyrical poet—is a mark of a great performance of this work.

The Rondo-like Return (A') and the Coda

The return to the A section is always exciting, bursting back into the light-speed spiccato figures. Popper typically uses this return to intensify the technical fireworks, often adding brief variations or extending the figures. The final flourish is the Coda, which functions as a spectacular, often hilarious, conclusion to the whirlwind. The tempo may accelerate one last time (Prestissimo), driving the music to a frantic climax. The cellist is challenged with one final, overwhelming burst of notes, often culminating in an upward-swooping scale or arpeggio that vanishes into the air. The final chord is typically short and crisp, creating a powerful sense of abruptness, as if the entire gathering of elves has suddenly vanished at the break of dawn, leaving only the echo of their dazzling dance behind.

Popper's Place in Cello History

The Elfentanz, Op. 39, along with the Hungarian Rhapsody and Tarantella, solidified Popper's legacy as the era's foremost composer of cello virtuoso pieces. His ability to seamlessly integrate high-level technique with evocative, audience-pleasing musical ideas influenced virtually every cellist and composer who followed. While Johannes Brahms and Antonín Dvořák wrote the great cello concertos of the age, it was Popper who wrote the daily language of the instrument for both the concert hall and the teaching studio. Even a century later, the Elfentanz remains an indispensable element of the cello’s performing repertoire, not merely as a test of speed, but as a charming, enduring piece of musical theater that celebrates the sheer, thrilling magic of the four strings.