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INSTITUTE
BORTHWICK
SMS 3/1/51 (1-4)
OF HISTORICAL RESEARCH
*
Concert Programmes
Season Programme 1993-94
Includes photocopy of
BMS 3/1/51 (2)
the
original is subject
to the Data Protection
Act and is stored separately
Ocr'd Text:
BUS SERVICES
York City Bus No.9 provides a convenient service from
Clifton and the city centre, while No.21 provides a
service from the railway station.
CAR PARKS
Use Conference Car Parks Pc, Pd, Pe, as shown on the
map below.
HULL ROAD
University Road
BUS STOP
↓
ENTRANCE
Sir Jack Lyons
Concert Hall,
Biology
Pd
AK
Yorkshire & Humberside
ARTS
50
Registered Charity No. 700302
50
100 yards N
100 metres
Vanbrugh
FURTHER INFORMATION
For further information on the BMS's concerts, including
the facilities for the disabled, please contact our Honorary
Secretary, Mr. N. J. Dick, Clement House, 6 Bishopgate
Street, York YO2 1JH. (Tel. 0904 637984).
Central
Hall
THE SOCIETY RESERVES THE RIGHT TO VARY THE
ARTISTS OR PROGRAMMES AS IT MAY FIND
NECESSARY.
NATIONAL FEDERATION
OF MUSIC SOCIETIES
NEMS
SMS 3/1/51 (1)
CHAMBER MUSIC
SEASON
1993/4
BAS
YORK
BMS
AT THE
LYONS
THE SIR JACK LYONS CONCERT HALL
UNIVERSITY OF YORK
Presented by the British Music Society of York
in association with the Department of Music,
University of York.
Ocr'd Text:
Thursday, 14 October 1993 at 8 p.m.
ANTHONY GOLDSTONE &
CAROLINE CLEMMOW (piano duo)
Piano duet music by Schubert:
Overture in G minor, D.668; 2 Polonaises in D minor;
D.824/1 and 599/1; Grand Sonata in Bb, D.617; Heroic
March in B minor, D.602/1, Fugue in E minor, D.952;
Grand March in B minor, D.819/3; Variations on a
theme of Hérold, D.908.
This concert is organised with the support
Yorkshire & Humberside of Yorkshire and Humberside Arts
ARTS
The outstanding husband-and-wife team of Anthony
Goldstone and Caroline Clemmow are playing the
whole of Schubert's vast output of piano duets in a
series of seven recitals, probably the first time this
has ever been done.
The BMS concert is the third instalment and contains
one of the real Schubert duet gems, the Bb Sonata
dating from the summer of 1818.
For details of all seven recitals (23 Sept. to 26 Nov., all within 75
miles of York) contact Mr. D. Mather, 91 The Village, Haxby, York
YO3 3JE.
● Friday, 19 November 1993 at 8 p.m.
CHILINGIRIAN STRING QUARTET
Haydn
Hugh Wood
Beethoven
Quartet, Op.74/3 (Rider)
Quartet No. 4
Quartet in Eb, Op.74 (Harp)
The Chilingirian String Quartet is one of this
country's most celebrated, travelled, adventurous
and above all exciting quartets. Their programme
includes Beethoven's Harp Quartet, a stablemate of
the Emperor Concerto, and Hugh Wood's Fourth
Quartet, which they premiered in a live Radio 3
broadcast last May.
Thursday, 16 December 1993 at 8
AEOLIAN WIND ENSEMBLE
Nichola Hunter (flute) Gabriel Hay (oboe)
Howard Rogerson (clarinet)
David Baker (bassoon)
Margaret Ayres (horn) Prabhu Singh (piano)
Quintet for piano and wind
Kleine Kammermusik
Wind Quartet
5 Pieces for wind trio
Sextet for piano and wind
Yorkshire & Humberside
ARTS
p.m.
Mozart
Hindemith
Françaix
Ibert
Poulenc
This concert is organised with the support
of Yorkshire and Humberside Arts
The Aeolian Ensemble is a group of Northern
musicians specialising in works for wind ensemble
with or without piano. They will be playing two
indisputable masterpieces from this repertory:
Mozart's Quintet, K.452, which even the composer
admitted was the best work he had ever written; and
Poulenc's Sextet, full of his irresistible Parisian charm.
Quartet in C, Op.20/2
Quartet No.5
Quartet in C, Op.59/3
Yorkshire & Humberside
ARTS
Friday, 21 January 1994 at 8 p.m.
LINDSAY STRING QUARTET
Haydn
Tippett
Beethoven
This concert is organised with the support
of Yorkshire and Humberside Arts
The Lindsay are old friends of the BMS. They have
long been associated with the Quartets of Sir Michael
Tippett, who wrote the Fourth and Fifth especially
for the players he has described as "indeed the best
friends a composer could have". They gave the first
performance of No.5 in May 1992, as part of their
famous chamber music festival in Sheffield, and its
appearance in this concert is a major event in the BMS
season.
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Ocr'd Text:
Friday, 18 February 1994 at 8 p.m.
ARTUR PIZARRO (piano)
Sonata in F, K.533/494
Sonata Op.57 (Appassionata)
Polonaise-Fantaisie
8 Pieces, Op.76
Mozart
Beethoven
Chopin
Brahms
The Portuguese pianist Artur Pizarro won the 1990
Leeds International Piano Competition and the
following year came to the BMS with a stunning
recital. We have managed to coax him back to play
some of the greatest works of piano literature,
including Beethoven's magisterial Appassionata
Sonata and Chopin's elusive late Fantasy-Polonaise.
Thursday, 17 March 1994 at 8 p.m.
MIKE D'ARCY (violin)
NIGEL HUTCHISON (piano)
Sonata in G, Op.30/3
Sonata No.3
Sonata in D, Op.94a
Introduction and Rondo
capriccioso, Op.28
Beethoven
Delius
Prokofiev
Saint-Saëns
Michael D'Arcy, from Belfast, is one of the most
exciting young violinists in the country, described by
the Manchester Evening News as "immensely talented."
His programme includes Beethoven's comic and
occasionally hair-raising G major Sonata from Op.30
and Prokofiev's ever-popular D major Sonata, as
well as a Saint-Saëns showpiece.
The BMS favours the informality of unreserved
seating. But, with the more popular concerts, places
cannot be guaranteed after 7.50 p.m., even for season
ticket holders. Always make sure you leave plenty of
time to secure your place.
BOOKING DETAILS
Adults
Students & under 18s
Stage Pass
• The higher price of £7.50 applies to the concerts by the
Chilingirian and Lindsay Quartets (19 Nov. & 21 Jan) and Artur
Pizarro (18 Feb). Despite this, we have managed to keep the season
ticket prices unchanged from last year. At nearly half the cost of
six single tickets, a season ticket makes better sense than ever
before.
Special rates are available for larger groups. For more details,
please write to Mr. A. Ainsworth (address overleaf).
BOOKING FORM
Season tickets may be purchased NOW by using this booking
form, or at the hall before the October and November concerts.
Single tickets may be bought in advance with the form overleaf or
from Ticket World, 6 Patrick Pool, York YO1 2BB. (Tel: York 0904
644194); they are also available before each concert at the hall.
Name
Single
Tickets
£6.50/£7.50*
£3.50
£2.50
For more information about Youth & Music's Stage Pass scheme,
available to those aged between 14 and 30, write to Claire Wilson,
Youth & Music, Dean Clough Industrial Park Ltd., Halifax, HX3
5AX or phone 0422 345631.
Address
Postcode
PLEASE SEND ME:
Season Tickets
(six concerts)
Season Tickets
£25.00
£12.50
£10.00
Tel. No.
Adult @ £25
Students @ £12.50
Stage Pass @ £10
Quantity Total
If applying for more than one season ticket, please give name of
each person, and address (where different from above.)
Ocr'd Text:
Mr. A. Ainsworth, 8 Petersway, Clifton, York, YO3 6AR.
Please make all cheques payable to BMS and post, together with booking form and SAE to :
17 Mar
D'Arcy/Hutchison
18 Feb
21 Jan
16 Dec
19 Nov
14 Oct
Pizarro
Lindsay
Aeolian
Chilingirian
£
£
£
£
1₂ its
£
£
1+₂
Goldstone/Clemmow
£
@£7.50
Adult
@£6.50
Adult
@ £3.50
Student
@£2.50
Stage Pass
Total
SINGLE TICKET BOOKING FORM
73rd SEASON
The BMS presents the world's finest chamber music, played
by artists of national and international reputation, for little
over £4.00 per concert.
Our concerts are held in a modern, comfortable concert hall
well-suited to the intimate atmosphere needed for this
music.
The hall has 330 fixed seats, but more are provided as
needed. The bar area has space for socialising and is open
from 7.30 p.m. Coffee and drinks are available during the
interval.
The BMS is not just an organisation promoting concerts,
but a society with a large and friendly membership. For a
£25.00 season ticket, subscribers are offered not only six
concerts for less than the price of four, but a place in the
society and an opportunity to participate in its decisions
and social gatherings.
Subscribe NOW and join us for the first concert on
Thursday, 14th October.
MUSIC DEPARTMENT CONCERTS AT THE
SIR JACK LYONS CONCERT HALL
The Department of Music of the University promotes a
series of public concerts during term time which offer a
range of music and artists unparalleled in the region. Top
international names feature alongside accomplished
University ensembles which include the Choir and Chamber
Choir, two Orchestras, the Big Band -30 Strong, the Gamelan
orchestra and a New Music Group.
This award-winning series is renowned for its varied and
imaginative programming. The visiting performers this
season include: the Vienna Sextet; Sarah Walker & Malcolm
Martineau; Nigel North & Richard Wistreich; the BBC
Philharmonic; the English Northern Philharmonia; the
Nash Ensemble; the European Community Chamber
Orchestra; and the Philharmonia with Barry Wordsworth.
The series starts on Wednesday, 20 October 1993.
For a free brochure giving full details of these concerts and
the Central Hall Orchestral Series, contact the Box Office,
Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall, University of York, York YO1
5DD. Telephone : 0904 432439
Ocr'd Text:
Mr R. P. Lorrimans
Mrs A. M. Morcoms
Mr & Mrs K. M. Nonhebel§
Mr B. Richards
Mrs D. G. Roebuck
Mr J. B. Schofields
Dr & Mrs G.A.C. Summers§
Dr M. J. Thomsons
Mr J. I. Watson
Mr & Mrs A. Wright
Mr P. W. Millers
Mr G. C. Morcom§
Miss H. C. Randall
Mr L. W. Robinsons
Mrs I. G. Sargent
Mrs E. Sessions
Mr D. A. Sutton
Mr O. S. Tomlinsons
Miss L. J. Whitworth
Mrs H. B. Wright
If you would like to become a Benefactor or Patron, or have any queries,
recommendations, criticisms or even praise, please come and see us at the
Members Desk and make your feelings known.
• AK
Yorkshire & Humberside
ARTS
In addition to the generosity of our Benefactors and Patrons, the activities
of the BMS are supported by grants from Yorkshire and Humberside Arts.
NATIONAL FEDERATION
OF MUSIC SOCIETIES
NEMS
BORTHWICK INSTITUTE
SMS 3/1/51(2)
OF
HISTORICAL
RESEARCH
Compiled by David Mather and published by the British Music Society
of York. Reproduced by WrightDesign of Fasingwold.
BS
YORK
THE EOLIAN ENSEMBLE
Thursday, 16 December 1993
Programme: 50p
Presented by the British Music Society of York
in association with the Department of Music
Ocr'd Text:
BS
YORK
It was in 1918 that the colourful Dr Arthur Eaglefield Hull, organist of
Huddersfield Parish Church, writer and modern music enthusiast, founded
the British Music Society.
The new society was a national body whose aims were: to bring together
professional and amateur musicians, to promote British music and music-
ians, to develop the appreciation of music by means of lectures and
concerts, and to campaign for the recognition of the place of music in
education. The Society expanded quickly, with about forty regional
centres being established.
So unwieldy an organisation, though, was in constant financial difficulty
and, despite the generosity of patrons, went into liquidation in 1933. Yet
many of the regional centres remained viable and continued to function as
concert-giving societies.
The York centre of the original Society was opened in 1921, with an
inaugural concert given by the soprano Isobel Baillie, then in her debut
year. In 1933, when the parent society went into liquidation, the centre
reconstituted itself as an autonomous organisation under the name British
Music Society of York.
Since then the Society has continued to give an annual season of chamber
music concerts. The present season is the 73rd in succession to be given
in York under the title British Music Society.
The BMS concert season takes the form of a subscription series. A full
subscription ticket entitles its holder to membership of the Society and to
attend six concerts for less than the price of four.
Registered Charity No.700302
BRITISH MUSIC SOCIETY of YORK
73rd Season
Thursday, 16 December 1993
Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall
THE EOLIAN
Nichola Hunter (flute)
Howard Rogerson (clarinet)
Jeffrey Snowdon (horn)
ENSEMBLE
Gabriel Hay (oboe)
Tracey Partridge (bassoon)
Benjamin Frith (piano)
Quintet for piano and wind instruments, K.452
Kleine Kammermusik, Op.24 No.2
Quartet for wind instruments
5 Pièces en trio
Sextet for piano and wind quintet
INTERVAL
Mozart
Hindemith
Françaix
Ibert
Poulenc
For the sake of others in the audience,
please turn off all alarms on watches, calculators etc.
before the concert starts,
and use a handkerchief when coughing.
Ocr'd Text:
THE EOLIAN
Ⓒ
Yorkshire & Humberside
ARTS
The Eolian Ensemble was formed during 1989 and specialises in the
repertory for piano and wind quintet, plus various permutations of this
combination. It is made up of musicians based in the North of England
and managed by its clarinettist, Howard Rogerson. The pianist Benjamin
Frith played for us in March 1989, in a piano duet recital with Peter Hill.
ENSEMBLE
The Eolian Ensemble's appearance tonight is organised
through Yorkshire & Humberside Arts' Musicians in
Residence scheme.
PROGRAMME NOTES
Quintet for piano, oboe, clarinet, horn Wolfgang Amadé Mozart
and bassoon in E flat, K.452
(1756- 1791)
Largo Allegro moderato
Larghetto
Allegretto
In 1781 Mozart engineered his own dismissal from the employment of the
Archbishop of Salzburg.and left for Vienna. There he hoped to land some
prestigious court appointment, but, as vividly described in the play and
film Amadeus, nothing came of this. Still, was a busy time for him: in
August 1782 he married and was constantly writing and performing.
In February 1784 Mozart began keeping a catalogue of his compositions-
even he was having some difficulty keeping up with his creativity. The
first six entries give some idea of the hectic pace of his life:
9th February
15th March
22nd
30th
12th April
21st April
[the E flat, K.449]
[the B flat, K.450]
[the D major, K.451]
[K.452]
[the G major, K.453]
violin [the B flat Violin
Sonata, K.454]
a Piano Concerto
a Piano Concerto
a Piano Concerto
a Piano Quintet
a Piano Concerto
a Piano Sonata with
It was a rich seam of creativity he had found, and he was mining it for
all his worth. But he needed to keep the pace up, since his March series
of subscription concerts demanded a steady flow of new material. At the
same time he organised a benefit concert for himself at the Imperial Court
Theatre. He was clearly determined to give good value for money, since
the concert was to include two symphonies (presumably the Linz and the
Haffner) and the first performances of two new piano concertos (K.450 and
K.451) and of the Piano and Wind Quintet, K.452, not to mention three
famous singers bringing along an aria each and Mozart himself contributing
an improvisation.
This concert was planned for 21 March, but at the last minute Mozart had
to postpone because he found it clashed with an opera performance at the
palace of Prince Liechtenstein: not only would Mozart have lost the best
members of his orchestra, but also the nobility from his audience, which
would have represented rather more of a disaster. The re-scheduled
concert took place on 1 April, by which time the Piano Quintet was the
only work on the programme still receiving its first performance.
The Quintet is the first known work of its kind, combining piano and a
quartet of wind instruments - oboe, clarinet, horn, bassoon. It may well
be that the combination was suggested by passages in the pianos concertos
where wind instruments, singly and in groups, were given prominence. The
technical problems of this quintet combination are complex indeed. There
is no real blend of sound between the wind instruments
one of the
reasons why, in wind music, they are more customarily used in pairs.
Mozart gets round the problem by using them in various permutations with
the piano and by weaving the parts in and out of each other, where the
difference in tone colour is a positive advantage.
On 10 April, just over a week after the first performance, Mozart wrote
to his father:
I have done myself great credit with my three subscription concerts,
and the concert I gave in the [Imperial] theatre was most successful.
I composed two grand concertos and then a quintet, which called
forth the very greatest applause: I myself consider it to be the best
work I have ever composed.
It is written for one oboe, one
clarinet, one horn, one bassoon [note Mozart's emphasis on one] and
the pianoforte. How I wish you could have heard it! And how
beautifully it was performed! Well, to tell the truth I was really
worn out in the end after playing so much and it is greatly to my
credit that my listeners never got tired.
Ocr'd Text:
Perhaps the greatest compliment paid the Quintet came a dozen years later
when Beethoven used it as the model for his own Piano and Wind Quintet.
The slow
The imposing slow introduction gives on to a moderately-paced first
movement in which flashes of brilliant piano writing serves to remind us
that the Quintet's closest siblings were piano concertos.
movement is a Larghetto in B flat, with the piano emerging only briefly
from the role of accompanist. The final Rondo, with its high-spirited main
theme, includes a Cadenza in tempo- yet another reminder of Mozart's
principal preoccupation at this time.
Kleine Kammermusik, Op.24 No.2
Lustig, mäßig schnelle Viertel
Walzer
Ruhig und einfach
Schnelle Viertel
Sehr lebhaft
Paul Hindemith
(1895 1963)
Paul Hindemith was born near Frankfurt of mixed Protestant and Catholic
ancestry. He studied violin and composition at the conservatory in
Frankfurt where, as a result of parental opposition, he had to support
himself by playing in cafés and dance bands. In 1915 he became the
leader of the orchestra of Frankfurt Opera, a post he held until 1923.
This was a tough time for Germany: humiliated in the First World War, it
then had to begin the long process of coming to terms with the social,
political and economic consequences of defeat. On the other hand, German
artists, liberated from the cosy smugness of the Wilhelmine period, were
enjoying a new age of freedom, experiment and daring.
Our abiding image of Hindemith is of the staid, rather dry neo-classical
composer of the 1930s, '40s and beyond, and we forget the young hothead
at the forefront of the avant-garde, under the spell of the likes of
Stravinsky and Schoenberg and that new music from America which only
really arrived in Germany after the fall of the Kaiser - jazz.
Hindemith wrote the Kleine Kammermusik [=little chamber music] in 1922
for the Frankfurt Wind Ensemble, who gave its first performance on 12
July 1922 in Cologne. It is scored for the conventional wind quintet of
flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon and horn (though the flautist uses a piccolo
in the second movement). The five movements, full of ironic humour
verging on parody, are: Merry, moderately quick crotchets; Waltz; Calm
and simple; Quick crotchets; Very lively.
INTERVAL
Coffee and drinks are available in the foyer. Coffee is 50p a cup: to find
it, go past the bar on to the landing and turn to the left.
If you are interested in becoming a Patron or Benefactor of the BMS, or
have any queries about the Society, come and see us at the Members Desk.
We can be found in the foyer at the opposite end to the bar, to your left
as you leave the auditorium.
Quartet for flute, oboe, clarinet and bassoon.
Allegro
Andante
Allegro molto
Allegro vivo
Jean Françaix
(b.1912)
Like our first Plantagenet king, Henry II, Jean Françaix was born in Le
Mans, midway between Normandy and the Loire. He studied first at the
Le Mans Conservatoire, where his father was director and his mother
taught singing, and then at the Paris Conservatoire, where he studied
composition with Nadia Boulanger and graduated from Isadore Philipp's
piano class in 1932 with the Premier Prix.
The forthright, opinionated, but wickedly accurate Norman Lebrecht calls
Jean Françaix:
By name and nature the quintessential French composer, con-
temptuous of foreignness, elegant as a cravat and conservative to
the core. His music is at best witty and light as a soufflé.
And Françaix is never better than when writing for wind instruments, for
which he had an affinity. The Quartet is an early work, written in 1933
Ocr'd Text:
for members of the staff at Le Mans. Recently, the composer explained
why the piece is for wind quartet, not quintet:
Since the horn tutor who was there at the time was never quite
sure what sound would emerge from the bell of the horn - he was
known as a specialist in playing two notes at once I preferred not
to awaken the volcano of sound, but to take cover against un-
pleasant surprises by writing a quartet.
The Quartet was first performed three years later in Paris by members of
the Paris Wind Quintet, to whom the work is actually dedicated. The
music is typical of Françaix' light accessible style, and none of the
movements lasts much beyond three minutes.
Cinq pièces en trio
Allegro vivo
Andantino
Allegro assai
Andante
Allegro quasi marziale
Jacques Ibert
(1890 - 1962)
Jacques Ibert was born in Paris. Encouraged by his pianist mother, he
studied the piano and while still young decided to become a musician. In
this he was opposed by his businessman father, so it was only in 1911 that
he was admitted to the Paris Conservatoire. In the composition class
there he met both Honegger, who became a lifelong friend, and Milhaud.
Ibert volunteered in the First World War, but was rejected on health
grounds: instead he worked first with the Red Cross and then with the
Marine Intelligence Corps. (ciphers etc.)
After the War, encouraged by Nadia Boulanger, he entered for the Grand
Prix de Rome, which he won at his first attempt, spending the first years
of the 920s at the Villa Medici,
of the Académie de France in
Rome. He was to return in 1937 as Director the first musician to be
appointed to the post. Alas, his time at the Villa was short: in 1940
Mussolini declared war in France, and Ibert was deported back there.
The five Pieces "en trio" belong just before this time: they were composed
in 1935, alongside a ballet on the story of Don Quixote and a Concerto da
camera for alto saxophone and 11 instruments. The "trio" in question is
made up of oboe, clarinet and bassoon. The five Pieces are typical of
Ibert's light, but sophisticated style, sparkling with virtuosity and wit.
They are arranged in the pattern fast-slow-fast-slow-fast.
Sextet for piano and wind
Allegro vivace: Très vite et emporté*
Divertissement: Andantino*
Finale: Prestissimo*
initial tempo markings only
Francis Poulenc
(1899 - 1963)
Poulenc was one of those rare creatures, an artist born with a silver
spoon in his mouth. His father was the founder of the Rhone-Poulenc
chemicals conglomerate, and young Francis never wanted for anything. He
was a jolly, gregarious man with a wide circle of close friends who clearly
meant a good deal to him his posthumously-published memoirs are
entitled Moi et mes amis [-me and my friends].
His music is a battleground of conflicting sides to his nature: he was a
brilliant melodist - among French composers perhaps second only to Fauré;
he idolised Mozart and loved music of the classical and baroque periods; at
the same time his enthusiasms ranged from the aggressively modern scores
of Stravinsky and Prokofiev to the sentimental kitsch of café music. If
this wasn't enough, the secular, worldly Poulenc was locked in conflict
with religious impulses. The abiding glory and fascination of Poulenc's
music is the way it switches from one style to the other, now sliding
effortlessly, now startlingly juxtaposed.
Outside music for the stage, Poulenc is principally known for his piano
music and incomparable songs. But there are several chamber works,
mostly featuring wind instruments, their sharp, pungent sound admirably
suiting his brittle, pointed style; indeed, the late sonatas for flute, clarinet
and oboe are all cornerstones of those instruments' repertories.
The Sextuor pour piano, flûte, hautbois, clarinette, basson et cor is a
rather earlier work. Poulenc composed it in 1932, but wasn't satisfied
with it and revised it in 1939. The first movement is fast and spiky,
though in the middle it suddenly halves its speed for a long lyrical
passage. The middle movement reverses this plan: it begins and ends
with slow, long-breathed, lyrical music in fact a thinly-disguised
distortion of the opening of a Mozart piano sonata - wrapped round a
perkier middle section. The finale is the fastest of all: it starts out high-
Ocr'd Text:
spirited and brittle, but keeps getting side-tracked into mouth-watering
tunes. The piece ends with a sombre and eloquent coda drawing on music
from the first movement.
Programme notes by David Mather
Floral decorations by Sue Bedford.
FORTHCOMING CONCERTS
The remaining concerts in the 73rd Season of the British Music Society,
presented in association with the Department of Music at the University,
are as follows. They take place in the Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall,
beginning at 8.00 pm.
§ Friday, 21 January 1994
§
LINDSAY STRING QUARTET
Peter Cropper & Ronald Birks (violins)
Robin Ireland (viola)
Bernard Gregor-Smith (cello)
§
Quartet in C, Op.20/2
Quartet No.5
Quartet in C, Op.59/3
Friday, 18 February 1994
ARTUR PIZARRO (piano)
works by Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin and Brahms
Thursday, 17 March 1994
MIKE D'ARCY (violin)
NIGEL HUTCHISON (piano)
works by Beethoven, Delius, Prokofiev and Saint-Saëns
Haydn
Tippett
Beethoven
BRITISH MUSIC SOCIETY of YORK
OFFICERS OF THE SOCIETY
President
Dr Francis Jackson
Vice-Presidents
Joan Whitworth
Jim Briggs
Rosalind Richards
Chairman: Barbara Fox
Vice-chairman: Derek Sutton
Ho Treasurer: Albert Ainsworth
Hon. Asst. Treasurer: John Petrie
Hon. Secretary: Nigel Dick
Hon. Programme Secretary: Brian & Rosalind Richards
NFMS Representative: Dr Richard Crossley
Hon. Auditor: Derek Winterbottom
Members of the Committee: Sue Bedford, Margherita Biller, Andrew
Carter, Stephanie Kershaw, Peter Marsden and Dick Stanley
BENEFACTORS AND PATRONS
The BMS manages to maintain the high standard of its concerts largely
Without their
through the generosity of its Benefactors and patrons.
covenanted gifts to the Society, we could not hope to balance our books.
Our Benefactors(§) and Patrons are as follows:
Mr A. Ainsworth
Mrs P. J. Armours
Mr R. A. Bellingham
Mr & Mrs J. Briggs
Mrs M. Danby-Smiths
Mr C. G. M. Gardner
Mr A. D. Hitchcocks
Dr F. A. Jackson
Mr J. C. Josling
Mrs F. Andrews§
Dr D. M. Bearpark
Mr & Mrs D. A. C. Blunt
Dr R. J. S. Crossley
Mr
J. Dick§
Mr D. P. Griffiths
Mr G. Hutchinsons
Mrs E. S. Johnsons
Professor R. Lawtons
Ocr'd Text:
BS
YORK
THE LINDSAY
STRING QUARTET
Friday, 21 January 1994
ge
Programme: 50p
Presented by the British Music Society of York
in association with the Department of Music
Ocr'd Text:
BS
YORK
It was in 1918 that the colourful Dr Arthur Eaglefield Hull, organist of
Huddersfield Parish Church, writer and modern music enthusiast, founded
the British Music Society.
The new society was a national body whose aims were: to bring together
professional and amateur musicians, to promote British music and music-
ians, to develop the appreciation of music by means of lectures and
concerts, and to campaign for the recognition of the place of music in
education. The Society expanded quickly, with about forty regional
centres being established.
So unwieldy an organisation, though, was in constant financial difficulty
and, despite the generosity of patrons, went into liquidation in 1933. Yet
many of the regional centres remained viable and continued to function as
concert-giving societies.
The York centre of the original Society was opened in 1921, with an
inaugural concert given by the soprano Isobel Baillie, then in her debut
year. In 1933, when the parent society went into liquidation, the centre
reconstituted itself as an autonomous organisation under the name British
Music Society of York.
Since then the Society has continued to give an annual season of chamber
music concerts. The present season is the 73rd in succession to be given
in York under the title British Music Society.
The BMS concert season takes the form of a subscription series. A full
subscription ticket entitles its holder to membership of the Society and to
attend six concerts for less than the price of four.
Registered Charity No.700302
Ocr'd Text:
BRITISH MUSIC SOCIETY of YORK
73rd Season
Friday, 21 January 1994
Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall
THE LINDSAY STRING QUARTET
Peter Cropper violin
Ronald Birks violin
Robin Ireland viola
Bernard Gregor-Smith cello
(003 String Quartet in C major, Op.20 No.2
String Quartet No.5
INTERVAL
String Quartet in C major, Op.59 No.3
Haydn
Tippett
Beethoven
For the sake of others in the audience,
please turn off all alarms on watches, calculators etc.
before the concert starts,
and use a handkerchief when coughing.
Ocr'd Text:
LINDSAY STRING
QUARTET
The Lindsay String Quartet is one of this country's longest established
and most respected quartets. It was formed in the mid-1960s when the
players were still at the Royal Academy of Music in London and had
coaching from Sidney Griller and Rudolf Kolisch. The Quartet had
periods of residency in several universities, first in Keele (they took their
name from the Vice-Chancellor, Lord Lindsay) from 1968, and then in
Sheffield and Manchester.
The Quartet is renowned for its imaginative concert series, such as the
Quartets and Real Ale concerts or the Ten Quartets, ingeniously linking
Bartók's six with the Four Quartets of T.S. Eliot. The Lindsay have
recorded complete cycles of the Bartók and Beethoven quartets, and are
closely associated with the quartets of Sir Michael Tippett: they premiered
the Fourth in 1979 and subsequently commissioned the Fifth, which they
play for us this evening.
PROGRAMME NOTES
String Quartet in C, Op.20 No.2
Moderato
Capriccio: Adagio
Minuet: Allegretto
Fugue: Allegro
(1732
Haydn
1809)
Haydn effectively invented the string quartet. Others may have used the
combination of instruments before, but it was Haydn who gave it form and
substance and who showed what it was capable of.
The 6 Quartets published as Haydn's Op.20 were the fifth half dozen he
had composed and marked a milestone in his output. Tovey, in his
absorbing article on the Haydn quartets for Cobbett's cyclopaedic survey
of chamber music, wrote:
Every page of the six quartets of Op.20 is of historic and aesthetic
importance; and though the total result still leaves Haydn with a
Ocr'd Text:
mad
wer
10
e
long road to travel, there is perhaps no single or sextuple opus in
the history of instrumental music which has achieved so much or
achieved it so quickly.
The Op.20 Quartets are the first Haydn specifically wrote for what is now
the standard string quartet combination. Before, the instruments involved
were two violins, viola and "basso", this latter term covering any
permutation of cello, double bass and even harpsichord continuo. In
Op.20, for the first time, Haydn specifies "violoncello" and means it. As if
to emphasise the increasing emancipation of the viola and cello, Haydn
went to the unusual length of ending four of these quartets with fugues,
the quintessentially democratic form where each voice has an equal say.
The Op.20 Quartets date from 1772, the year in which Haydn reached his
40th birthday. It was the time of Symphony No.45 (Farewell) and the
beginning of a period when Haydn became more involved with opera: work
had recently been completed at Eszterháza, the new palace of his
employers, the Esterhazy family, who were anxious to make use of its
theatre. It is worth noting, though, that despite his achievements in these
quartets, Haydn was to neglect the form for another nine years.
Those who prefer names to numbers call the Op.20 set the Sun Quartets.
The nickname goes back to an edition of the parts issued by the firm of
Hummel (Berlin/Amsterdam) in 1779: the title pages were decorated with a
vignette of the sun.
The C major is perhaps the most interesting of the set. It is what the
late Hans Keller called homophonic - that is all its movements have the
same keynote, they are all in C major or C minor. This is rare in a work
of four movements: Haydn used the scheme several times, but usually
when the piece as a whole was in the minor, not the major, as here.
The cello does indeed arrive with a vengeance in this Quartet. It opens
proceedings, its melody lying above not only the bass line (given to the
viola), but also the second violin accompaniment.
The slow movement is placed second and the minuet third the normal
arrangement by the late 1780s and 1790s, but very much the exception in
Haydn's earlier quartets. The C minor slow movement bears the title
Capriccio, as if to excuse its unconventional format. It most resembles an
operatic recitative and aria, the stern and unbending opening giving way
halfway through to a long-breathed melody for the violins.
Ocr'd Text:
Instead of closing properly, the slow movement leads straight into the
Minuet. Haydn repeats this trick in the C minor Trio section: the second
half, instead of being repeated, fizzles out before leading back into the
reprise of the C major Minuet.
The Finale is a fugue - in fact what is known in the trade as a quadruple
fugue: instead of being based on just a single subject (tune), it is based
on four of them. But don't worry, Haydn habitually wore his learning
more lightly than almost any composer who ever lived.
String Quartet No.5
Medium fast
Slow
Medium fast Slow
[principal tempo divisions]
Michael Tippett
(b.1905)
Sir Michael Tippett was born in London, but brought up in Suffolk.
Musically, he was a late developer, making little contact until his teens,
when he studied at the Royal College of Music in London. Subsequently
he had private lessons with R.O. Morris, which accounts for the exception-
al technical sophistication of his contrapuntal writing.
Tippett's response to world events such as the First World War, the
Depression and mass unemployment was involvement in political radicalism
amongst other things he organised a South London Orchestra of
Unemployed Musicians. During the Second World War he was even
sentenced to three months in prison for failing to comply with the
conditions of conscientious exemption from military service.
From 1941 to 1951 Tippett was Director of Music at Morley College (an
adult education centre in London whose previous music directors had
included Gustav Holst), after which he was able to devote himself to full-
time composition. Despite his political and pacifist commitments, Tippett's
achievements have been acknowledged and rewarded by the establishment:
CBE 1959, knighted 1966, Companion of Honour 1979, Order of Merit 1983.
When I worked for Tippett's publishers, Schott, briefly during the mid-70s,
there was much talk of "periods" in Tippett's music and the perhaps
fortuitous, perhaps deliberate way in which each of these periods seemed
to contain an opera, a cantata/oratorio, a symphony, a concerto, a string
quartet and a piano sonata. The first, lyrical period culminated in the
(
1
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Ocr'd Text:
1
}
(
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opera The Midsummer Marriage (1946-52), while the second, tougher and
more disjunct period seemed to flow from the gritty opera King Priam
(1958-61). During my time there, Schotts was gearing itself up for the
first performance of the fourth opera, The Ice Break, while Sir Michael
was already at work on the Symphony No.4.
Incredibly, even his 80s do not seem to have slowed Sir Michael down
much. The fifth opera, New Year, was premiered in Houston in October
1989, and, after a year off to participate in world-wide 85th birthday
celebrations and write his autobiographical Those Twentieth Century
Blues, he returned to composition in 1991 with the String Quartet No.5.
The Lindsay String Quartet has long been associated with the music of Sir
Michael, as the composer himself wrote in 1992 for their 25th anniversary
season:
I've known and loved the Lindsays since they were youngsters, when
they first came to the Bath Festival. Working with them around
then on my first three quartets was an inspiration; for their
performances don't stand still they change, vary, mature and
deepen; much the same has happened with the two quartets I've
written for them since. The Lindsays are indeed the best friends a
composer could have. It's not merely that they treat every dot with
the reverence it deserves; without being dogmatic, they are
concerned to establish good precedents in matters of style, so that
succeeding generations of interpreters start at an advantage (as they
did, learning Bartók, with the old Hungarian Quartet). Hence the
generosity of their teaching and also of their truly remarkable
chamber music festival in Sheffield.
Both the Fourth and Fifth Quartets were composed for the Lindsay
Quartet, who gave the first performance of No.5 during their Chamber
Music Festival in Sheffield on 9 May last year. The Quartet lasts just
under half an hour and consists of just two movements. The score is
prefaced by the words:
Chantes, rossignol, chantes toi
qui as le coeur gai.
Sing nightingale, you with the
heart so gay.
and bears a dedication to Sally Groves, daughter of the late Sir Charles
Ocr'd Text:
Groves. Sally worked in the promotion department of Schott where, I may
say, she turned a number of male heads and where she is now Head of
Contemporary Music; more than perhaps anyone else she has looked after
Sir Michael's music and has long been a close friend.
The Lindsay's performance of the Fifth Quartet is available on an ASV
compact disc with the number CDDCA 879.
INTERVAL
Coffee and drinks are available in the foyer. Coffee is 50p a cup: to find
it, go past the bar on to the landing and turn to the left.
If you are interested in becoming a Patron or Benefactor of the BMS, or
have any queries about the Society, come and see us at the Members Desk.
We can be found in the foyer at the opposite end to the bar, to your left
as you leave the auditorium.
Quartet in E minor, Op.59 No.2 (Razumovsky No.2)
Andante con moto Allegro
Andante con moto quasi Allegretto
Minuet: Grazioso
Finale: Allegro molto
Beethoven
(1770 - 1827)
Count Aleksei Kirillovich Razumovsky (1752-1832) was a colourful
character. The Razumovskys had risen to greatness through his
grandfather, a favourite of the Empress Elizabeth, and they were powerful
magnates throughout the reign of Catherine the Great. Aleksei Kirillovich
was an intimate of Catherine's son, crown-prince Paul. Unfortunately, he
was still more intimate with Paul's wife and had to be removed abroad
with fiery haste, before the scandal broke.
Eventually, in 1792, Aleksei Kirillovich was made the Russian ambassador
to Vienna, where he was known by the Christian name Andreas. It was an
Ocr'd Text:
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important posting: Russia and Austria were allies of long standing and
were shortly to be brought even closer by the struggle against Napoleon.
In practice, however, Razumovsky was far better at spending money
lavishly and having affairs than at diplomacy. The family had always
been great patrons of art and music, at the St Petersburg court as well
as in their own palaces, and Aleksei Kirillovich, true to his blood, was
lavish in the support and purchase of art. He became one of Beethoven's
aristocratic patrons.
Being an enthusiastic amateur violinist, Razumovsky persuaded Beethoven
to write him some string quartets Beethoven, according to Czerny,
"pledged himself to weave a Russian melody into every quartet". Whether
this was part of the agreement or a gesture on the composer's part will
probably never be clear. At any rate, it only applied to the first two
quartets. None of the themes in Op.59 No.3 is labelled "Thème russe".
The three Quartets were composed in 1805 and 1806, in the midst of a
period of astonishing creativity. Between 1803 and 1806 Beethoven
produced, in addition to the first two versions of the opera Leonoral
Fidelio, the Waldstein Piano Sonata (Op.53), Piano Sonata in F (Op.54),
Eroica Symphony (Op.55), Triple Concerto (Op.56), Appassionata Piano
Sonata (Op.57), Fourth Piano Concerto (Op.58), Razumovsky Quartets
(Op.59), Fourth Symphony (Op.60) and Violin Concerto (Op.61).
The three Quartets were composed in the order in which we know them
today and sent off one by one to Razumovsky. The letter that accom-
panied the Second has survived, and from it we know that the Count was
pleased with the First.
As with many of Beethoven's C major first movements, that of Op.59 No.3
is predominantly open, straight-forward, robust. Yet Beethoven prefaces it
with a magical, disorientating introduction, as if he were leading us down
dark and winding alleyways before suddenly confronting us with some
splendid building.
The middle movements of a four-movement Beethoven work are usually a
slow and profound slow movement followed by a fast scherzo. Occasional-
ly, though, the "slow" movement would flow quite quickly, in which case
the old-
the scherzo was replaced with the form it had once supplanted
fashioned minuet with its stately tempo. Such is the case in Op.59 No.3,
the haunting A minor slow movement followed by the graceful Minuet with
Ocr'd Text:
its slightly cheeky F major Trio. After the reprise of the Minuet, there is
a short, dark-hued coda which leads directly into the finale.
Op.59 No.3's last movement is an irrepressibly lively fugue, any thoughts
of academicism being kept firmly at bay by its ebullient high spirits and
hectic pace.
Programme notes by David Mather
Floral decorations by Sue Bedford.
FORTHCOMING CONCERTS
The final concerts in the 73rd Season of the British Music Society,
presented in association with the Department of Music at the University,
om are as follows. They take place in the Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall,
beginning at 8.00 pm.
Friday, 18 February
Sonata in F, K.533/494
Sonata, Op.57 (Appassionata)
Polonaise-Fantaisie
8 Pieces, Op.76
ARTUR PIZARRO (piano)
Thursday, 17 March
MIKE D'ARCY (violin)
NIGEL HUTCHISON (piano)
a vi Sonata in G, Op.30/3
-lano Sonata No.3
Sonata in D, Op.94a
-bloko Introduction and Rondo capriccioso, Op.28
Mozart
Beethoven
Chopin
Brahms
Beethoven
Delius
Prokofiev
Saint-Saëns
Ocr'd Text:
BRITISH MUSIC SOCIETY of YORK
OFFICERS OF THE SOCIETY
President
Dr Francis Jackson
Vice-Presidents
Joan Whitworth
Jim Briggs
Rosalind Richards
Chairman: Barbara Fox
Vice-chairman: Derek Sutton
Hon. Treasurer: Albert Ainsworth
Hon. Asst. Treasurer: John Petrie
Hon. Secretary: Nigel Dick
Hon. Programme Secretary: Brian & Rosalind Richards
NFMS Representative:
Dr Richard Crossley
Hon. Auditor: Derek Winterbottom
Members of the Committee: Sue Bedford, Margherita Biller, Andrew
Carter, Stephanie Kershaw, Peter Marsden and Dick Stanley
BENEFACTORS AND PATRONS
The BMS manages to maintain the high standard of its concerts largely
through the generosity of its Benefactors and patrons. Without their
covenanted gifts to the Society, we could not hope to balance our books.
Our Benefactors(§) and Patrons are as follows:
Mr A. Ainsworth
Mrs P. J. Armour§
Mr R. A. Bellingham
Mr & Mrs J. Briggs
Mrs M. Danby-Smiths
Mr C. G. M. Gardner
Mr A. D. Hitchcock§
Dr F. A. Jackson
Mr J. C. Josling
Mrs F. Andrews
Dr D. M. Bearpark
Mr & Mrs D. A. C. Blunt
Dr R. J. S. Crossley
Mr N. J. Dick§
Mr D. P. Griffiths
Mr G. Hutchinsons
Mrs E. S. Johnsons
Professor R. Lawtong
Ocr'd Text:
Mr R. P. Lorrimans
Mrs A. M. Morcom§
Mr & Mrs K. M. Nonhebel§ Miss H. C. Randall
Mr B. Richards§
Mr L. W. Robinsons
Mrs I. G. Sargent
Mrs D. G. Roebuck
Mr J. B. Schofields
Dr & Mrs G.A.C. Summers§
Dr M. J. Thomsons
12
Mrs E. Sessions
Mr D. A. Sutton
Mr O. S. Tomlinsons
Miss L. J. Whitworth§
Mrs H. B. Wright
Mr J. I. Watson
Mr & Mrs A. Wright
If
you would like to become a Benefactor or Patron, or have any queries,
recommendations, criticisms or even praise, please come and see us at the
Members Desk and make your feelings known.
Mr P. W. Millers
Mr G. C. Morcom§
In addition to the generosity of our Benefactors and Patrons, the activities
of the BMS are supported by grants from Yorkshire and Humberside Arts.
Yorkshire & Humberside
ARTS
*
OF
NATIONAL FEDERATION
OF MUSIC SOCIETIES
NEMS
INSTITUTE
BURTHWICK
BMS 3/1/51 (3)
HISTORICAL
RESEARCH
Compiled by David Mather and published by the British Music Society
of York. Reproduced by WrightDesign of Easingwold.
Ocr'd Text:
B.S
YORK
ARTUR PIZARRO
(piano)
28
Friday, 18 February 1994
selit blow soy quong to th
Programme: 50p
Presented by the British Music Society of York
in association with the Department of Music
bottelgo
Ocr'd Text:
BS
YORK
SOCIETY NEWS
Tonight's Music
If you are interested in seeing what the music being played this evening
looks like on paper, copies will be available (if I remember to bring them)
at the Members' Desk during the interval.
Advance Booking
The Committee is making advance booking for our concerts slightly easier.
During tonight's interval tickets for the final recital of our 73rd Season
will be on sale at the Members' Desk in the foyer. The concert takes
place on Thursday 17 March and features the violinist Michael D'Arcy: for
full details, see under Forthcoming Concerts at the end of this book.
Future Programmes
Is there an artist or group you would like to have perform for the BMS?
Is there a favourite work or works you would like to hear at a BMS
concert? The Programme Secretaries are always open to suggestions. Tell
a committee member (they should all be wearing badges), or come to the
Members' Desk.
Registered Charity No.700302
Ocr'd Text:
BRITISH MUSIC SOCIETY of YORK
73rd Season
Friday, 18 February 1994
Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall
ARTUR PIZARRO
(piano)
Sonata in F, K.533/494
Sonata in F minor, Op.57 (Appassionata)
INTERVAL
Polonaise-Fantaisie in A flat, Op.61
8 Pieces for piano, Op.76
For the sake of others in the audience,
please turn off all alarms on watches, calculators etc.
before the concert starts,
and use a handkerchief when coughing.
Mozart
Beethoven
Chopin
Brahms
Ocr'd Text:
ARTUR
PIZARRO
Artur Pizarro was born in Portugal and began his piano studies at the age
of five with the distinguished Portuguese pianist and teacher Sequeira
Costa, first in Lisbon and later at the University of Kansas. He also
studied at the National Conservatory of Music in Lisbon.
Mr Pizarro made his London debut in 1989 at the Wigmore Hall and went
on to play twice with the London Mozart Players in the Queen Elizabeth
Hall. It was after those performances that Jane Glover described him as
"surely one of the most promising pianists of his generation. He has a
remarkable technique, and brings to it great interpretative sensitivity".
In September 1990 Mr Pizarro won first prize in the Harveys Leeds
International Piano Competition and in the November of the following year
gave a memorable recital for the BMS. We have managed to persuade him
back this year to play some of the greatest works of piano literature.
PROGRAMME NOTES
Sonata in F major, K.533/494
Allegro
Andante
Rondo: Allegretto
Wolfgang Amadé Mozart
(1756 - 1791)
The Köchel number reflects this Sonata's history. Ludwig van Köchel
studied law, but practised minerology, bringing the forensic and taxonomic
skills he acquired in these disciplines to the compilation of his famous
1862 catalogue of Mozart's music - the first ever to include all the known
works of a single composer. Köchel arranged the music chronologically,
dates in Mozart's own hand forming the framework against which he set
undated works according to stylistic or other evidence. It was a
remarkable achievement, and Köchel's numbers are still used today, though
some adjustments have had to be made to his chronology in the light of
more recent discoveries.
Ocr'd Text:
The F major Sonata began as a Rondo for piano, which Mozart wrote as
an independent piece in 1786. It had distinguished neighbours:
K.491 C minor Piano Concerto (No.24), dated 24 March
K.492 The marriage of Figaro, dated 29 April
K.493 Piano Quartet in E flat, dated 3 June
K.494 "A little Rondo for solo piano", dated 10 June
K.495 Horn Concerto in E flat (No.4), dated 26 June
K.496 Piano Trio in G, dated 8 July
K.497
Piano Duet Sonata in F, dated 1 August
K.498
be K.499
Kegelstatt Trio (piano, clarinet and viola), dated 5 August
String Quartet in D, dated 19 August
Not bad for six months' work - well, not quite, Figaro had been begun a
bit earlier, between K.478 and K.479.
A year and a half later, Mozart returned to the "little" Rondo. He revised
it and turned it into a piano sonata by writing an Allegro and Andante to
go in front of it. The new movements, dated 3 January 1788, occupy
No.533 in Köchel's catalogue. This was a relatively fallow period for
Mozart. After the strain of the world premiere of Don Giovanni (Prague,
29 October 1787) the only work of any stature he composed before the
three last symphonies of the summer of 1788 was the D major Piano
Concerto, K.535 (No.26, known as the Coronation), dated 24 February 1788.
The new composite F major Piano Sonata was published by Hoffmeister of
Vienna in 1788. The first movement is full of the sort of contrapuntal
byplay that had hitherto been more a feature of Mozart's quartet writing.
The slow movement contains some of his most daring harmonic experi-
ments, but the finale is a return to the more carefree days of 1786, when
Mozart was basking in the huge success of Figaro's first performance
(Vienna, 1 May).
Sonata in F minor, Op.57 (Appassionata)
Allegro assai
Andante con moto -
Allegro ma non troppo
Ludwig van Beethoven
(1770 - 1827)
The Appassionata Sonata was composed in 1804 and 1805, in the midst of a
period of astonishing creativity. Between 1803 and 1806 Beethoven
produced, in addition to the first two versions of the opera Leonora/
Ocr'd Text:
Fidelio, the Waldstein Piano Sonata (Op.53), Piano Sonata in F (Op.54),
Eroica Symphony (Op.55), Triple Concerto (Op.56), Appassionata Piano
Sonata (Op.57), Fourth Piano Concerto (Op.58), Razumovsky Quartets
(Op.59), Fourth Symphony (Op.60) and Violin Concerto (Op.61).
Op.57 was published in Vienna in February 1807 by a firm rejoicing in the
title Bureau des Arts et d'Industrie. The nickname "Appassionata" is not
authentic: it first appeared on a piano duet arrangement of the work
published in Hamburg in 1838. But the name is not inappropriate to the
passionate nature of much of the music, written in what may have been
Beethoven's "stormiest" key, F minor, the key of the Egmont Overture and
the Op.95 String Quartet - not to mention, fittingly, the storm movement
of the Pastoral Symphony.
We know from "sources close to" the composer (amongst them Czerny) that
Beethoven thought Op.57 his greatest piano sonata, an opinion he held at
least up to the time of the Hammerklavier Sonata (Op.106, 1817-8), and
that he liked to play it more than any other.
The first movement derives much of its tension and power from its wild
contrasts and sheer unpredictability of temperament. After the argument
apparently dies down at the end, a fiery coda presses the speed and
excitement onwards, until the music eventually burns itself out.on
The slow movement is a set of variations on a rather more sober theme in
the more restful key of D flat major. The variations themselves are
elegant and decorative rather than, as often with Beethoven, probing. But
this is precisely what is needed between two such highly charged
movements.
The finale follows without a break. The law of diminishing returns
prevents Beethoven's repeating the first movement's approach. Instead, he
allows the tension to grow cumulatively, finally releasing it in a shattering
Presto coda.
INTERVAL
Coffee and drinks are available in the foyer. Coffee is 50p a cup: to find
it, go past the bar on to the landing and turn to the left.
Polish
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Ocr'd Text:
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Do visit the Members' Desk if you are interested in the music for
tonight's concert, in tickets for the next concert or in becoming a Patron
or Benefactor of the BMS. We can be found in the foyer at the opposite
end to the bar, to your left as you leave the auditorium.
Polonaise-Fantaisie in A flat, Op.61
Frédéric Chopin
(1810 1849)
Chopin's output was dominated by the piano, and his music for the
instrument seldom strays outside a handful of forms - ballades, nocturnes,
sonatas, studies, waltzes and so on. Two of them are quintessentially
Polish, the mazurka and the polonaise. The mazurka was a traditional
Polish country dance (often sung as well as danced) which Chopin was
responsible for bringing into the concert hall, his 60 or so examples often
containing some of his most intimate music.
The Polonaise, on the other hand, already had a long history in the
concert hall. Bach had used the form (the Polacca in the First Branden-
burg Concerto is one) as well as Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven, amongst
others. There is evidence that it originated as courtly aristocratic dance,
and this would account for the magisterial style Chopin often adopted in
his polonaises. There is a wealth of patriotic feeling in the famous
Military Polonaise (A major, Op.40/1), the epic F sharp minor (Op.44) and
the heroic A flat (Op.53).
For all the aristocratic bearing of such music, Chopin was himself quite an
ordinary homely person - as comes across in his letters to his family back
home in Warsaw. Here's a taste from a letter dated "Paris, 12 December
1845":
... I've told you about Chenonceaux, now about Paris. Gavary sends
best greetings to Ludw. and Jedrz. (he sends her Massillon, his own
work); likewise the Franchommes. I dined at both houses before
Mme S. arrived, and we talked a lot about you both. I'm already
starting on my treadmill. Today I've given only one lesson, to
Mme Rothschild, and have excused myself from two, as I had other T
work. My new mazurkas have come out in Berlin at Stern's, so I
don't know whether they will get as far as you - you in Warsaw be
generally getting your music from Leipzig. They are not dedicated cow
to anyone.
Now I'd like to finish my cello sonata, barcarolle androil
Ocr'd Text:
something else I don't know what to call; but I doubt whether I'll
have the time, as the rush is beginning. I have received many
enquiries whether I will give a concert, but I doubt I will. Liszt
has arrived from the provinces, where he's been giving concerts; I
found his card in the house. Meyerbeer is here, too. I was to have
gone today to a soirée at Leo's to see him, but we're going to the
Opéra, to the new ballet (new for Mme S.), Le diable à quatre, in
which the costumes are ours. Now I'm writing to you after the
ballet, on Saturday morning. Nothing is changed at the Opéra; it's
just as it was when you were there. As yet we have seen nothing
else; neither the Italian theatre where they do Verdi, nor Mme
Dorval in the new drama Marie Jeanne, which is said to be one of
her best parts.
The "something else I don't know what to call" is most probably the
Polonaise-Fantaisie, completed in the summer of 1846 and published in
Paris and Leipzig that November as Op.61. It's no wonder Chopin had
difficulty finding a title for it. Like many of his late works it is
structurally experimental, a work with no precedent to help shape it, only
Chopin's improviser's instincts. From the questing introduction (whose
harmonic web would remain unequalled for a generation) and the clear
polonaise idea this gives on to, through many contrasting episodes to the
final apotheosis, Chopin creates a discursive, developmental, seamless
whole.
8 Pieces for piano, Op.76
Capriccio in F sharp minor: Un poco agitato
and Capriccio in B minor: Allegretto non troppo
der Intermezzo in A flat: Grazioso
Intermezzo in B flat: Allegretto grazioso
Capriccio in C sharp minor: Agitato, ma non troppo presto
Intermezzo in A: Andante con moto
Johannes Brahms
(1833 1897)
Intermezzo in A minor: Moderato semplice
Capriccio in C: Grazioso ed un poco vivace
The piano was Brahms's own instrument, and music for it straddles his
composing career: his output reached Op.122, the first and last works for
solo piano being Op.1 and Op.119. The music for solo piano, however,
went through two distinct phases. In the first we find Brahms the young
lion - or perhaps that should be "eagle", which is how the Schumanns saw
Ocr'd Text:
I
e
S
S
or
CT,
RW
the 20-year-old Brahms when he turned up on their doorstep in Düsseldorf.
The works are predominantly large-scale - the three sonatas and the
variation sets, including the Handel Variations and the Paganini set, whose
appearance in 1866 marked the close of this first phase.
It was
Then came something of a gap, until the second phase opened with the
publication of Acht Klavierstücke as Op.76 in March 1879.
characterised by a smaller, much more intimate scale. After Op.76 came
the two Rhapsodies, Op.79 (1880) and another 12-year gap until the four
sets of pieces, Opp.116-119 of 1892/3. Nearly all the pieces in these sets
Brahms calls by one of two titles: capriccio for the faster pieces,
intermezzo for the slower.
The eight pieces of Op.76 were published in two books. The first book
consists of a restless Capriccio in F sharp minor, a quirky, gipsy-style
Capriccio in B minor, a teasingly graceful Intermezzo in A flat and a more
straight-forwardly lyrical Intermezzo in B flat. Book II opens with the
tense and intense Capriccio in C sharp minor, followed by the sweet and
simple Intermezzo in A, the gentle, wistful Intermezzo in A minor and
finally the Capriccio in C major. This last is a complex and subtle piece,
requiring musicianship of the first order. Brahms was so worried about
including it in the set that he asked Clara Schumann whether she didn't
agree he should leave it out. Fortunately she replied in a letter of 7
November 1878 that the C major was a great favourite of hers, and so
Brahms left it in.
Programme notes by David Mather
Floral decorations by Sue Bedford.
Ocr'd Text:
FORTHCOMING CONCERTS
The final concert in the 73rd Season of the British Music Society,
presented in association with the Department of Music at the University,
takes place as usual in the Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall.
Thursday, 17 March 1994 at 8 p.m.
MICHAEL D'ARCY (violin)
NIGEL HUTCHISON (piano)
Sonata in G, Op.30/3
Sonata No.3
Sonata in D, Op.94a
Introduction and Rondo capriccioso, Op.28
Also in the Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall at 8.00:
§ Wednesday, 23 February 1994
NASH ENSEMBLE
Piano Quintets by Dvořák and Franck
Beethoven
Delius
Prokofiev
Saint-Saëns
§ Wednesday, 2 March
30 STRONG
The University big band playing repertory from the 1930s to the present
Ocr'd Text:
BRITISH MUSIC SOCIETY of YORK
OFFICERS OF THE SOCIETY
President
Dr Francis Jackson
Vice-Presidents
Joan Whitworth
Jim Briggs
Rosalind Richards
Chairman: Barbara Fox
Vice-chairman: Derek Sutton
Hon. Treasurer: Albert Ainsworth
Hon. Asst. Treasurer: John Petrie
Hon. Secretary: Nigel Dick
Hon. Programme Secretary: Brian & Rosalind Richards
NFMS Representative: Dr Richard Crossley
Hon. Auditor: Derek Winterbottom
Members of the Committee: Sue Bedford, Margherita Biller, Andrew
Carter, Stephanie Kershaw, Peter Marsden and Dick Stanley
BENEFACTORS AND PATRONS
The BMS manages to maintain the high standard of its concerts largely
through the generosity of its Benefactors and patrons. Without their
covenanted gifts to the Society, we could not hope to balance our books.
Our Benefactors (§) and Patrons are as follows:
Mr A. Ainsworth
Mrs P. J. Armours
Mr R. A. Bellingham
Mr & Mrs J. Briggs
Mrs M. Danby-Smiths
Mr C. G. M. Gardner
Mr A. D. Hitchcock
Dr F. A. Jackson
Mr J. C. Josling
Mrs F. Andrews§
Dr D. M. Bearpark
Mr & Mrs D. A. C. Blunt
Dr R. J. S. Crossley
Mr N. J. Dicks
Mr D. P. Griffiths
Mr G. Hutchinson§
Mrs E. S. Johnsons
Professor R. Lawtong
Ocr'd Text:
Mr R. P. Lorriman§
Mr P. W. Millers
Mr G. C. Morcoms
Mrs A. M. Morcoms
Mr & Mrs K. M. Nonhebel§ Miss H. C. Randall
Mr B. Richards§
Mr L. W. Robinsons
Mrs D. G. Roebuck
Mrs I. G. Sargent
Mrs E. Sessions
Mr D. A. Sutton
Mr O. S. Tomlinsons
Miss L. J. Whitworth
Mrs H. B. Wright
Mr J. B. Schofield§
Dr & Mrs G.A.C. Summers§
Dr M. J. Thomson§
Mr J. I. Watson
Mr & Mrs A. Wright
If you would like to become a Benefactor or Patron, or have any queries,
recommendations, criticisms or even praise, please come and see us at the
Members Desk and make your feelings known.
In addition to the generosity of our Benefactors and Patrons, the activities
of the BMS are supported by grants from Yorkshire and Humberside Arts.
*
Yorkshire & Humberside
ARTS
INSTITUTE
BORTHWICK
*SMS 3/1/51(4)
OF
HI
NATIONAL FEDERATION
OF MUSIC SOCIETIES
NEMS
TORICAL
*
RESEARCH
Compiled by David Mather and published by the British Music Society
of York. Reproduced by WrightDesign of Easingwold.