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The British Music Society of York, BMS 3 2 9 |
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BAS
YORK
Emma Johnson,
Paul Watkins & John Lenehan
Thursday, 11 January 2001
Programme: £1.00
Presented by the British Music Society of York
in association with the Department of Music
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NOTICE BOARD
Advertising our Concerts
The bigger the audience we can attract to BMS concerts, the more money there
will be for the concerts budget, which means we would be able to afford artists
we can at present only dream of inviting. You can help. You must know of
places where our posters could be seen by potential new audience. Posters for
our next concert are available in the foyer: help yourself and help the Society.
**Forthcoming Concerts
One of the ways we are increasing our publicity effort is by reciprocal
advertising with other concert promoters: when they have a concert coming up
shortly we tell our audience about it and they reciprocate. You will find details
of these concerts towards the end of this book.
Your Views
The BMS is a society run for the benefit of its members by a dedicated
committee elected from amongst those members. If there is something you
think we should be doing, or should not be doing, don't keep it to yourself:
please tell a committee member. They should all be wearing badges, and,
however it may appear, they do want to hear from you.
* Internet
The BMS has a small but discernible presence on the Internet. If you haven't
found it already, the URL is http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/psev/bms.htm. The
site contains a short history of the Society and an updated list of forthcoming
concerts.
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't
he
B'S
YORK
BRITISH MUSIC SOCIETY
of YORK
80th Season
Thursday, 11 January 2001
Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall
Emma Johnson clarinet
Paul Watkins cello
John Lenehan piano
Beethoven Trio in B flat, Op.11
Schumann Fantasiestücke, Op.73
Bartók
Brahms
INTERVAL
Rhapsody No.1
Trio in A minor, Op.114
For the sake of others in the audience, please turn off all
mobile phones and alarms on watches, calculators etc.,
and use a handkerchief when coughing.
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TONIGHT'S ARTISTS
Emma Johnson, as one of the world's most famous clarinettists, scarcely needs
any introduction here. Many of you may recall the wonderful recital she gave
for us back in November 1994. But if you want to find out more about her, there
is a biography, discography and much else besides on her website:
www.emmajohnson.co.uk
Ms Johnson plays a Peter Eaton clarinet.
Paul Watkins was born in 1970 and studied the cello with William Pleeth,
Melissa Phelps and Johannes Goritzki. He won the string section of the 1988
BBC Young Musician of the Year and at the startlingly young age of 20 was
appointed principal cellist of the BBC Symphony Orchestra. He is a professor at
both the Royal Academy and Royal College in London and plays on a 1695
cello by Francesco Rugeri on loan from the Royal Academy of Music.
John Lenehan is one of Britain's most sought-after chamber music pianists: he
has worked with Nigel Kennedy, Julian Lloyd Webber, James Galway and
Tasmin Little as well as Emma Johnson. He has made many recordings,
including several with the Joachim Piano Trio, an ensemble that played for the
BMS back in November 1989. He is music director of Sounds for Silents, a
unique ensemble dedicated to playing live music for silent films.
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PROGRAMME NOTES
Trio for clarinet, cello and piano in B flat, Op.11
Allegro con brio
Adagio
Theme and (9) Variations
Ludwig van Beethoven
(1770-1827)
Beethoven wrote this Trio probably in the first half of 1798. It was composed at
the request of a clarinettist (unnamed in the sources) and originally scored for
clarinet, cello and piano, though when it was first published in October of that
year the violin was given as an alternative to the clarinet.
According to Beethoven's pupil Czerny, it was the wish of clarinettist in
question that Beethoven make one of the movements a set of variations on a
popular operatic hit of the time, the jaunty trio Pria ch'io l'impegno from Joseph
Weigl's two-act comedy L'amor marinaro. It is sometimes forgotten that
Beethoven wrote many such sets of variations, mostly for piano solo, on operatic
hits, particularly during the 1790s. Somehow the idea of such flippant pieces
does not square with our idea of the serious, cerebral Beethoven, and these
works are mostly overlooked - except as fodder for piano students: virtually all
the variational works for which he is remembered take their themes from outside
the operatic world. Again according to Czerny, Beethoven even had doubts
about the variations in this Trio and long intended to write a new finale and let
the variations stand on their own. But he never got round to it.
It would have been a shame if he had. Their exuberance and wit make a perfect
foil for the genial and inventive first movement and for the Eb Adagio, with its
suggestion of a slowed-down minuet. The theme of the variations begins with a
one-and-a-half-beat upbeat figure with which Beethoven has a lot of fun. The
first variation is for piano alone; the second for the other two instruments. Both
the fourth and seventh variations are in the minor - No.4 serious, No.7 a tongue-
in-cheek funeral march. The ninth variation, with its contrapuntal byplay, is
extended into a coda with a brief excursion into G major.
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Fantasiestücke for clarinet and piano, Op.73
Zart und mit Ausdruck
Lebhaft, leich-
Rasch und mit Feuer
Robert Schumann
(1810-1856)
Schumann was one of the sort of people who live on the raw edge of their nerves
and emotions. Excitable, capable of throwing himself into whatever captured
his interest with almost maniacal enthusiasm, he often worked in the white heat
of inspiration producing, for example, the 30-minute Kreisleriana (still a
cornerstone of the piano repertory) in a mere four days. But such a nature has its
downside: slights, disappointments, moments of self-doubt are endlessly
brooded over and grow out of all proportion, giving rise to bouts of melancholy
and depression. All in all, bad news for his wife.
His wife was Clara Wieck, daughter of his piano teacher: they married in
September 1840, and the prospect of this event excited him so much he threw
himself into the composition of Lieder - the Op.39 Eichendorff Liederkreis,
Dichterliebe and Frauenliebe und -leben all belong to May, June and July of
that year. The road to their marriage, though, was tortuous. Schumann was
everything Herr Wieck did not want in a husband for the daughter he had
nurtured from child prodigy up into one of Europe's great pianists. He became
dangerously obsessed with preventing the marriage, going so far as to have a
pamphlet defaming Schumann printed privately, and when that didn't work even
impugning his daughter's character and reputation. It did no good: Robert and
Clara applied to the courts for permission to marry without his consent, and after
much agonised waiting were allowed to.
Of course, for a man with a tenuous grip on self-worth a famous, indeed fêted
wife can be a source of all sorts of hang-ups - or at least so it was during the 19th
century. Already by 1842 Schumann was feeling himself in Clara's shadow, and
during her Russian tour of 1844 things came to a head. He suffered fits of
depression, which persisted on his return and throughout his work on Scenes
from Faust, resulting in a complete nervous breakdown. That autumn the couple
moved to Dresden, musically rather a backwater. Schumann was still not
completely recovered: he was composing during 1845, but the following year
produced virtually nothing. Things picked up during 1847, when he returned to
several unfinished or at least unpolished scores and completed them. And
finally, that December, he began work on an opera - a long-held ambition of his.
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S
d
at
a
In
W
S,
S
me
a
20
nd
er
mes
le
mot
ar
to
15.
He was now back to composing at the same intensity he had achieved during his
courtship. This may partly be because Clara's career was so to speak on hold:
she was now pregnant for much of the time and caring for a young family. To
compensate for the loss of a public platform, Clara took to playing chamber
music at home: Dresden had its own court orchestra, which meant no lack of
competent musicians within easy reach. So it is perhaps no surprise that during
the course of 1849 Schumann wrote several works for Clara to play with these
instrumentalists. He produced works for oboe, horn, cello, but the first of them
all was a set of Fantasiestücke for clarinet and piano: Schumann wrote them on
11 and 12 February 1849, and Clara tried them out six days later with Johann
Kotte from the Dresden orchestra.
There are three "fantasy pieces" making up the set. Schumann wrote on the
score that the third piece should follow the second without a break, which
suggests he always meant the three pieces to form a single whole. The first
piece ("tenderly and with expression") is in a melancholy and nostalgic A minor.
The remaining two movements are both in the major: the second ("lively, light")
is sunny in mood while the third lives up to its "rapid, with fire" tempo marking.
INTERVAL
Coffee and drinks are available in the foyer. Coffee is 80p a cup: to find us, just
go past the bar, out on to the landing, and turn to the left.
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Rhapsody No.1 for cello and piano
Bela Bartók
(1881-1945)
The "Hungarian" style of music familiar from pieces by Liszt and Brahms, and
even as far back as Schubert, is actually a fake - or at the very least a confection.
It actually owes less to real Hungarians than to the itinerant gipsy musicians of
that region who, in the 18th century, accompanied (in both senses) recruiting
detachments of the Austrian army. It was customary for parties of Hussars to
descend on a village and tempt able-bodied males to sign up by performing the
dance known as the verbunkos. The gypsies cobbled together a musical style for
the verbunkos by assimilating just enough of the sounds, inflections and rhythms
of genuine peasant music of the region for potential new recruits to feel at home.
It wasn't long before the gypsies brought their new style back to the towns,
peddling it to a local middle class and aristocracy in search of something
colourful by way of relaxation and diversion.
Structurally the verbunkos is basically a slow, lyrical introduction (lassú)
followed by a lively, energetic dance (friss), a form which could be seen to reach
its apogee in the Hungarian Rhapsodies of Liszt. "Art music", if we may call it
that, was not to rediscover the genuine peasant music of the area until the early
years of the 20th century when musicians like Bartók and Kodály went out into
the villages recording (on both paper and wax cylinder) Hungarian, Romanian,
Slovakian, Bulgarian and other folk tunes.
At the close of 1927 Bartók was on a concert tour of the USA. On Christmas
Eve he was due to play his new Piano Concerto (No.1), but he was unexpectedly
asked to perform his youthful Rhapsody for piano and orchestra Op.1 instead, a
work very much in the Lisztian mould. It has been plausibly suggested that it
was this event that set him thinking about what would happen if one were to
apply the lassú-friss formula with its flamboyant gipsy trimmings to genuine
folk tunes of the region. Whatever the impulse, Bartók did produce in 1928 two
Rhapsodies for violin and orchestra, cast in the Lisztian mould but using as
thematic material only actual folk tunes he had himself collected.
The autographs of the Rhapsodies are set out for violin and piano, but the nature
of the piano writing suggests Bartók was thinking in orchestral terms from the
very beginning. Each Rhapsody was dedicated to a great Hungarian violinist,
No.1 to Szigeti and No.2 to Székely. The First Rhapsody is known in three
forms: violin and piano; violin and orchestra; and cello and piano. The cello and
piano version was the last to be written - it dates from 1929, not long after the
orchestral version - but was actually the first to be performed: Bartók premiered
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e
Le
e
me
1
1
1
}
it in Budapest on 20 March 1929 with the cellist Jenő Kerpely. Szigeti didn't
get round to performing the violin versions till that autumn.
The Rhapsody opens its lassú section with a typical Romanian melody, with
characteristic wavering third: it is the only time in the whole of Bartók's output
that he imitates the sound of the cimbalom. The friss section is based on several
tunes and the music gets wilder and wilder, before the slow music of the lassú
returns culminating in a violin/cello cadenza.
Trio for clarinet, cello and piano in A minor, Op.114
Allegro
Adagio
Andantino grazioso
Allegro
Johannes Brahms
(1833-1897)
All those great composers who contributed a number of works to the clarinet
repertory seem to have been inspired to do so by the playing of a particular
instrumentalist: with Mozart it was Anton Stadler, with Weber Heinrich
Baermann and with Brahms Richard Mühlfeld.
Richard Mühlfeld (1856 - 1907) was principal clarinet and assistant conductor
of the court orchestra of Saxe-Meiningen, a small duchy in the Thuringian
Forest region. Brahms knew the Duke and Duchess personally and was invited
to Meiningen for a week-long festival in March 1891, during which his First and
Fourth Symphonies were to be played. For him, though, the highlight of the
festival was Mühlfeld's playing in one of the Weber Concertos and the Mozart
Quintet. It proved inspirational. After the Second String Quintet, Op.111,
Brahms had been thinking he was written out and had even written his will and
sent it to his publisher Simrock. Now, inspired by Mühlfeld's playing, he
embarked on an Indian summer of composition, producing before the year was
out the Clarinet Trio Op.114 and Clarinet Quintet Op.115.
For nearly all his mature life, Brahms did all his composing during the summer
months when he would get out of the city into the splendour and quiet of the
Alps. In the late 1880s his favoured resort had been Lake Thun, but he had been
obliged to give this up when a new riverside promenade was built which allowed
sight-seers too close to his house. (Apparently the English were worst for this.)
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Instead he went to Bad Ischl, which had the advantage of being close to friends
such as Johann Strauss, Bösendorfer (of piano fame) and the composer
Goldmark. On this occasion, though, Brahms can't have spent too much time
socialising, to begin with at least: he arrived in Ischl in mid-May and by 25 July
the Trio and Quintet seem to have been written, since Brahms was writing to the
Duchess inviting himself back to Meiningen for a play-through of them both. It
is a measure of the warm and close relations between Brahms and the ducal pair
that in this same letter he could tease the duchess, saying that he'd noticed the
partiality she had for the clarinettist and the earnestness with which she'd
searched out his chair in the orchestra (she was notoriously short-sighted). Now,
however, he'd done her a good turn: he'd written chamber pieces which could be
performed in her own apartments. She could even sit by Mühlfeld, turn over for
him and "use the rests I have given him for the most intimate conversations."
The Trio is in four movements and, for Brahms, unusually sombre. In both the
first and last movements, the main second theme is written in such a way that the
clarinet and cello can play it in inverted canon. The D major slow movement
which lies second was characterised by the late Professor Ivor Keys as "a locus
classicus of the combination of fantasy and passion within a coherent whole of
only 54 bars." The third movement is a slow waltz in A major, while the finale
flits mercurially between 2/4 and 6/8.
Programme notes by David Mather
Floral decorations by Sue Bedford
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H
e
2
t
S
FORTHCOMING CONCERTS
The next concert in the 80th Season of the British Music Society of York,
presented in association with the Department of Music at the University, takes
place as usual in the Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall, beginning at 8 pm.
Friday, 9 February 2001
Delta Saxophone Quartet
Mike Westbrook
Jean Françaix
Michael Torke
Trad. arr. Brady
Purcell arr. Martland
Philip Glass
Jean Absil
Coming through Slaughter: overture
Petit Quatuor
July
Rhodopski Melody
Fantazia 6
Mishima
Suite on Romanian themes
More dates for your diaries:
** Wednesday, 17 January 2001
Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall, 8 pm
Belcea String Quartet
Janáček's two string quartets and shorter works by Schubert.
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** Saturday, 20 January 2001
St Olave's Church, Marygate, 8.00 pm
Academy of St Olave's
John Hastie director
Dvořák's Serenade, Bach's 2-violin Concerto (soloists Claire Jowett and Clare
Howard) and Beethoven's Eroica.
Wednesday, 31 January 2001
Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall, 8 pm
University Chamber Orchestra
Beethoven's Second Piano Concerto (soloist Seng Choo Ong), Haydn's
Symphony No.99 and a new work by Steven Baker.
Saturday, 10 February 2001
York Minster, 7.30 pm
City of York Guildhall Orchestra
Simon Wright director
Mahler's Third Symphony, with soloist Jean Rigby and choirs from York and
Ampleforth.
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d's
B'S
YORK
BRITISH MUSIC SOCIETY
of YORK
OFFICERS OF THE SOCIETY
President Dr Francis Jackson
Vice-Presidents
Chairman
Vice-Chairman
Hon. Treasurer
Hon. Asst. Treasurer
Hon. Secretary
Hon. Publicity Secretary
Hon. Programme Secretary
NFMS Representative
Hon Auditor
Members of the Committee
Jim Briggs, Rosalind Richards
Dr John Dawick
David Mather
Albert Ainsworth
John Petrie
Nigel Dick
Marc Schatzberger
Amanda Crawley
Dr Richard Crossley
Derek Winterbottom
}
Sue Bedford, Peter Marsden, Brian
Mattinson, John Robinson and Dr Mary
Turner
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 gifts to the Society,
many of them covenanted, we could not hope to balance our books.
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Our Benefactors (§) and Patrons are as follows:
Mr A Ainsworth §
Mrs PJ Armour
Mr & Mrs DAC Blunt § Mr J Briggs §
Mr J Curry §
Mr RA Bellingham
Dr RJS Crossley
Mr NJ Dick §
Dr FA Jackson
Mr CGM Gardner
Mr JC Joslin §
Mr RP Lorriman §
Mrs GO Morcom
Prof. R Lawton §
Mr GC Morcom §
Mr & Mrs LW Robinson § Mrs IG Sargent
Mr JB Schofield §
Mrs DC Summers §
Mr JI Watson
Mrs I Stanley §
Mr DA Sutton
Mr R Wilkinson §
Dr DM Bearpark §
Mrs M Danby-Smith §
Registered Charity No.700302
Mr JA Gloag
Mr N Lange §
Mr & Mrs B Mattinson §
Canon & Mrs JS Pearson
Mr M Schatzberger
Mr RDC Stevens §
Dr & Mrs GMA Turner §
Mrs HB Wright §
If you would like to become a Benefactor or Patron, please get in touch with our
Hon. Treasurer, either at the ticket desk before each concert, or at 8, Petersway,
York, YO30 6AR. All other correspondence about the Society should be
addressed to the Hon. Secretary, 6, Bishopgate St., York, YO23 1JH.
NATIONAL FEDERATION
NEMS
OF MUSIC SOCIETIES The BMS is affiliated to the National Federation of Music
Societies which represents and supports amateur vocal,
instrumental and promoting societies throughout the United
Kingdom. The Society also gratefully acknowledges the
assistance of the Royal Bank of Scotland.
Compiled by David Mather and published by the British Music Society of York.
Reproduced by the Trophy & Print Shop, Commercial St, Norton, Malton.
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§
Son
erg
our
be
USIC
the
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INSTITUTE
BURTHWICK
*(BMS 5/2/9 (1)
OF HI TORIC L
PESEARCH
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BAS
YORK
The Delta
Saxophone Quartet
Friday, 9 February 2001
Programme: free
Presented by the British Music Society of York
in association with the Department of Music
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The Delta Saxophone Quartet
The Delta Saxophone Quartet was formed in 1984, and is Britain's longest
established saxophone chamber group. Three of its present four players
(Stephen Cottrell, Peter Whyman and Chris Caldwell) have been together since
1984, an extraordinary achievement of continuity in this particular field. Gareth
Brady joined the group in 1998.
Throughout this period the Quartet has sought constantly to expand both the
repertoire and presentation of saxophone quartet music and has collaborated
with some of the world's leading composers to achieve this: with Mike West-
brook, whose In a Fix, a substantial 30-minute music-theatre piece, was toured
throughout Britain soon after its premiere; with Gavin Bryars on Alaric I or II,
frequently performed and recently recorded for the BBC; with Graham Fitkin,
whose STUB was immediately recorded for Decca and has become a cornerstone
of the saxophone quartet repertoire in Britain in addition to being used as a
dance score.
Commissioning new pieces is fundamental to the Quartet's work, and this com-
mitment continues unabated. In 1997 the Quartet premiered and toured new
works by Michael Finnissy (Huddersfield Festival) and Eleanor Alberga (Rain-
bow over Bath Festival).
In addition to working with these and other established composers, the Quartet
has been active in promoting the works of younger composers, and has on sev-
eral occasions collaborated with the Society for the Promotion of New Music
(SPNM) to encourage less familiar names to write for the group. A number of
these works have subsequently been taken into the repertoire.
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Ocr'd Text:
BS
YORK
BRITISH MUSIC SOCIETY
of YORK
80th Season
Friday, 9 February 2001
Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall
The Delta Saxophone Quartet
Mike Westbrook
Jean Françaix
Michael Torke
Traditional arr. Brady
Purcell arr. Martland
Philip Glass
Jean Absil
Coming through Slaughter: overture
Petit Quatuor
July
Rhodopski Melody
INTERVAL
Fantazia 6
Mishima
Suite on Romanian themes
For the sake of others in the audience, please turn off all
mobile phones and alarms on watches, calculators etc.,
and use a handkerchief when coughing.
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FORTHCOMING CONCERTS
The final concert in the 80th Season of the British Music Society of York, pre-
sented in association with the Department of Music at the University, takes place
as usual in the Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall, beginning at 8 pm.
Thursday, 15 March 2001
Bach-Busoni
Beethoven
Liszt
Francis Pott
Piers Lane (piano)
Toccata in C
Sonata in F minor, Op.57 (Appassionata)
Liebestraum No.3
Concert Study: Un sospiro
Reminiscences de Don Juan, S.418
Toccata
More dates for your diaries:
Saturday 10 February - York Minster, 7.30
City of York Guildhall Orchestra in Mahler's Symphony No.3
Wednesday 14 February - Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall, 8.00
New Music Players: Messiaen's Quatuor pour le fin du temps &
Debussy's Violin and Cello Sonatas
Wednesday 21 February - Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall, 8.00
Hausmusik: Schubert's Octet & Beethoven's Septet
Saturday 3 March - York Minster, 8.00
York Cantores: Music for big spaces by Bruckner & Rakhmaninov
Saturday 17 March - Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall, 8.00
York Symphony Orchestra: Francis Jackson's overture Brigantia, Elgar's
Cello Concerto (soloist: Simon Fox) & Chaikovsky's Symphony No.1
INSTITUTE
SORTHWICK
BMS 3/2/9(2)
10
FESEARCH
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BAS
YORK
Piers Lane
(piano)
Thursday, 15 March 2001
Programme: £1.00
Presented by the British Music Society of York
in association with the Department of Music
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NOTICE BOARD
Farewell to the 80th Season
Tonight is the last concert of the 80th Season of the British Music Society of
York, held in association with the Department of Music of the University of
York. Our next fixture will be the Society's Annual General Meeting, which
we're aiming to hold on Thursday 7 June. There will be a short business
meeting (to include the unveiling of next season's programme), followed by a
short musical entertainment and a meal, to both of which guests are welcome.
All members of the Society will receive notification of the date and venue nearer
the time. Meanwhile, the 81st Season is set to begin in mid October. Members
will automatically be sent the Season's brochure in midsummer, as well as all
those on the mailing list run jointly by the BMS, the University Music
Department and a basket of local concert-giving organisations. If you suspect
you might not be on this list, or have recently changed address, could you please
contact our Treasurer, Mr Albert Ainsworth, 8 Petersway, York, YO30 6AR.
Your Views
The BMS is a society run for the benefit of its members by a dedicated
committee elected from amongst those members. If there is something you
think we should be doing, or should not be doing, don't keep it to yourself:
please tell a committee member. They should all be wearing badges, and,
however it may appear, they do want to hear from you.
** Internet
The BMS has a small but discernible presence on the Internet. If you haven't
found it already, the URL is http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/psev/bms.htm. The
site contains a short history of the Society and an updated list of forthcoming
concerts.
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BAS
YORK
BRITISH MUSIC SOCIETY
of YORK
80th Season
Thursday, 15 March 2001
Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall
Piers Lane piano
Bach-Busoni Toccata in C, BWV 564
Beethoven Sonata in F minor, Op.57 (Appassionata)
INTERVAL
Liszt Liebestraum, S.541 No.3
Concert Study Un sospiro, S.144 No.3
Réminiscences de Don Juan, S.418
Francis Pott Toccata
For the sake of others in the audience, please turn off all
mobile phones and alarms on watches, calculators etc.,
and use a handkerchief when coughing.
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PIERS LANE
Piers Lane was born in London, but grew up in Brisbane and holds dual
UK/Australian nationality. Amongst his early successes were: broadcasts for the
Australian Broadcasting Corporation from the age of 12; a Special Prize in the
Liszt-Bartók Competition in Budapest when he was 18; the prize for the "Best
Australian Pianist" in the first Sydney International Piano Competition when he
was 19; and a Churchill Fellowship Special Performance Award when he was
20. This fellowship financed two years' study in the USA and at the Royal
College of Music in London. His teachers have included his mother, Dr William
Lovelock, Dr Nancy Weir, Bela Siki, Kendall Taylor and Yonty Solomon. He
has also taken part in many masterclasses with Jorge Bolet.
He has taught at the Royal Academy of Music in London for over 10 years, and
in 1994 was made an Honorary Member.
Mr Lane has recorded over 20 CDs for a variety of labels. For Hyperion he has
made several discs in their acclaimed series exploring the byways of the
Romantic Piano Concerto. With the violinist Tasmin Little he has recorded both
English and French chamber music for EMI and BMG; he has also accompanied
Alexander Baillie on two CDs of Russian music for cello and piano on the
Unicorn-Kanchana label.
For more information on Piers Lane, including a fuller biography, a complete
discography and news of recent and forthcoming appearances, there are
webpages devoted to him. The URL is:
http://members.aol.com/givor/piersbio.htm
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PROGRAMME NOTES
Toccata in C, BWV 564
Preludio, quasi improvvisando: Tempo moderato
Intermezzo: Adagio
Fuga: Moderatamente scherzando, un poco umoristico
Bach-Busoni
We're accustomed nowadays to a wide variety of music in piano recitals, but at
the height of the romantic period, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the diet
was more restricted. Some composers' music - Mozart is a case in point - was
widely revered but seldom played. Bach too: the masses and passions were
mainstays of oratorio societies; his great organ works, architecture for the ears,
could fill a cathedral better than a capacity congregation; but his "piano" (i.e.
harpsichord) music rarely made it to the recital hall - it wasn't nearly grand,
showy or colourful enough. Worse still, much of it was considered too clever
for its own good: only pianists fired with a missionary zeal to educate went near
it.
The pianist-composer Ferruccio Busoni (1866-1924) found a way round this
perceived impasse by producing a series of larger-than-life piano versions of
non-"piano"pieces by Bach. Perhaps the most famous example is the D minor
Chaconne, where he took a 12-minute movement for unaccompanied violin,
added a few more layers which Bach had only hinted at, then a few more for
good measure, producing a piece to challenge the full resources of the modern
concert grand piano, the technique of the player, the imagination of the audience
and the sensibilities of violinists and other bleeding-heart purists.
More often, though, Busoni's transcriptions were of organ pieces. With the
organ you not only play music with your hands, your feet can provide an extra
line; what's more, at the flick of a switch or pull of a stop you can call on a huge
variety of colours or double every note you play at the octave, or even more
nightmarish interval. Trying to give a sense of all this on the piano allowed
Busoni to play Bach and still have a piece that was grand, showy and colourful
enough to spellbind his contemporaries.
It's not certain when J.S. Bach (1685 1750) wrote his Toccata in C major,
BWV 564: probably during his 20s, though other dates have been suggested. In
the absence of an autograph we can't even be certain of his title for it, though
most of the manuscript copies by pupils and followers which form our sources
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for it use the title Toccata, which seems a safe bet. The name is Italian, and
derives from the verb toccare, to touch: at the time it was a popular title for a
harpsichord or organ piece specifically designed to show off the fingerwork of
the player. The pieces were usually in one movement, consisting of several self-
contained sections, as is the case with BWV 564: in one of most reliable sources,
these are labelled Prelude, Adagio and Fugue. The Adagio in particular has
attracted attention as its use of a melody with homophonic accompaniment has
no parallel in Bach's organ works. The Fugue is based on one of Bach's most
jocular subjects.
Piano Sonata in F minor, Op.57 (Appassionata) Ludwig van Beethoven
(1770-1827)
Allegro assai
Andante con moto -
Allegro ma non troppo
The Appassionata Sonata was composed in 1804/5, 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/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), three 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 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 Op.95 String Quartet - not to mention, fittingly,
the storm movement of the Pastoral Symphony (1807/8). At any rate, musicians
prefer names to numbers, and the name has stuck.
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.
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and
or a
self.
ost
ven
d of
tion
ans
that
least
liked
The first movement derives much of its tension and power from wild contrasts
and the sheer unpredictability of its 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.
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 80p a cup: to find us, just
go past the bar, out on to the landing, and turn to the left.
Liebestraum No.3, S.541 No.3
Franz Liszt
(1811-1886)
Liszt's Liebestraum was once a staple item in piano recitals, as ubiquitous as
Rakhmaninov's C sharp minor Prelude and Chopin's Minute Waltz. Its status
was so iconic it was assumed to be a piece everyone had heard: references and
parodies abound - you can even hear snatches of its theme in the sound tracks to
cartoon films. The late Victor Borge built an entire routine around pretending to
hate it, playing it through in a calculatedly negligent manner complete with
derogatory running commentary.
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The piece has its origins in one of Liszt's songs, O lieb, so lang du lieben
kannst. Liszt wrote this around 1845, then a couple of years later added another
two songs to make a set of three which the firm of Kistner published in 1850: O
lieb, with a slightly simplified piano accompaniment, was placed last. At the
same time Kistners also issued Liszt own piano transcriptions of all three songs,
under the title Liebesträume: 3 notturnos [= love-dreams: 3 nocturnes]. No.3 is
the Liebestraum.
The poem which O lieb, so lang du lieben kannst sets is by one Ferdinand
Freiligrath. It takes the form of advice to a woman which may be summarised
as: "Fill your life with love while you can - you will be standing weeping by a
grave soon enough. Hearts glow when love is returned. Do what you can to
make his life happy. And be careful what you say - it's all too easy to let
something slip that might be taken the wrong way."
Liszt
Concert Study in D flat, S.144 No.3
Étude, or study, is the name given to a piece specifically designed to help the
performer overcome a given technical problem or problems. Such pieces are
normally best confined to the practice room - as inspection of the outpourings of
the indefatigable Czerny will show. It was more than anyone Chopin who
brought the form out of the practice room and onto the concert platform. His
Opp.10 & 25 Studies still address technical problems, but their prime purpose is
no longer to develop technique, but to display it. It was to make this distinction
that the phrase concert study was coined.
Liszt wrote many studies of this kind, including the Transcendental and Paganini
Studies, whose original form belong to the later 1830s when Liszt was at the
height of his career as a travelling virtuoso. When renounced the public stage in
1847 to devote himself to the more reputable prefessions of teaching and
composition, one of the first fruits was a set of three Études de concert, written
probably in 1848 and published in 1849.
A different edition of the pieces appeared almost immediately in France under
the title Trois caprices poetiques, and it was in this publication that the three
Studies were given the titles: Il lamento [= lament], La leggierezza [= lightness]
and Un sospiro [= a sigh]. What, if anything, these titles have to do with Liszt is
not certain, but they are not unfitting and too widely used to be overly impressed
by the tongue-clucking of pedants.
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t
nd
31
a
d
Z
be
re
S
BS
YORK
The Delta
Saxophone Quartet
Friday, 9 February 2001
Programme: free
Presented by the British Music Society of York
in association with the Department of Music
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The Delta Saxophone Quartet
The Delta Saxophone Quartet was formed in 1984, and is Britain's longest
established saxophone chamber group. Three of its present four players
(Stephen Cottrell, Peter Whyman and Chris Caldwell) have been together since
1984, an extraordinary achievement of continuity in this particular field. Gareth
Brady joined the group in 1998.
Throughout this period the Quartet has sought constantly to expand both the
repertoire and presentation of saxophone quartet music and has collaborated
with some of the world's leading composers to achieve this: with Mike West-
brook, whose In a Fix, a substantial 30-minute music-theatre piece, was toured
throughout Britain soon after its premiere; with Gavin Bryars on Alaric I or II,
frequently performed and recently recorded for the BBC; with Graham Fitkin,
whose STUB was immediately recorded for Decca and has become a cornerstone
of the saxophone quartet repertoire in Britain in addition to being used as a
dance score.
Commissioning new pieces is fundamental to the Quartet's work, and this com-
mitment continues unabated. In 1997 the Quartet premiered and toured new
works by Michael Finnissy (Huddersfield Festival) and Eleanor Alberga (Rain-
bow over Bath Festival).
In addition to working with these and other established composers, the Quartet
has been active in promoting the works of younger composers, and has on sev-
eral occasions collaborated with the Society for the Promotion of New Music
(SPNM) to encourage less familiar names to write for the group. A number of
these works have subsequently been taken into the repertoire.
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BAS
YORK
BRITISH MUSIC SOCIETY
of YORK
80th Season
Friday, 9 February 2001
Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall
The Delta Saxophone Quartet
Mike Westbrook
Jean Françaix
Michael Torke
Traditional arr. Brady
Purcell arr. Martland
Philip Glass
Jean Absil
Coming through Slaughter: overture
Petit Quatuor
July
Rhodopski Melody
INTERVAL
Fantazia 6
Mishima
Suite on Romanian themes
For the sake of others in the audience, please turn off all
mobile phones and alarms on watches, calculators etc.,
and use a handkerchief when coughing.
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FORTHCOMING CONCERTS
The final concert in the 80th Season of the British Music Society of York, pre-
sented in association with the Department of Music at the University, takes place
as usual in the Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall, beginning at 8 pm.
Thursday, 15 March 2001
Bach-Busoni
Beethoven
Liszt
Francis Pott
Piers Lane (piano)
Toccata in C
Sonata in F minor, Op.57 (Appassionata)
Liebestraum No.3
Concert Study: Un sospiro
Reminiscences de Don Juan, S.418
Toccata
More dates for your diaries:
Saturday 10 February - York Minster, 7.30
City of York Guildhall Orchestra in Mahler's Symphony No.3
Wednesday 14 February - Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall, 8.00
New Music Players: Messiaen's Quatuor pour le fin du temps &
Debussy's Violin and Cello Sonatas
Wednesday 21 February - Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall, 8.00
Hausmusik: Schubert's Octet & Beethoven's Septet
Saturday 3 March - York Minster, 8.00
York Cantores: Music for big spaces by Bruckner & Rakhmaninov
Saturday 17 March - Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall, 8.00
York Symphony Orchestra: Francis Jackson's overture Brigantia, Elgar's
Cello Concerto (soloist: Simon Fox) & Chaikovsky's Symphony No.1
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Un sospiro is a study in hand-crossing and what is sometimes called the three-
hand effect. The effect is really a trick, the melody being created by
highlighting certain notes of the accompaniment pattern and often disguising this
by using the hands alternately. The effect was a speciality of the Swiss pianist
Thalberg, one of Liszt's main rivals in the 1830s.
Liszt
Réminiscences de Don Juan, S.418
Liszt was a frighteningly tireless arranger of his own and other people's music.
Almost half of his vast output was based on something else: in the catalogue
compiled by Humphrey Searle for Groves' Dictionary, 1 - 350 are original
works, 351- 701 "Arrangements, Transcriptions etc." And we're not talking the
odd song transcription: S.464 alone, for instance, accounts for piano
transcriptions of all nine Beethoven symphonies.
Basically Liszt's "Arrangements, Transcriptions etc." fall into two categories.
There are straight transcriptions, mostly for piano: by and large they are straight
piano versions of the originals, though some indulge in the odd flourish or bit of
Lisztian preluding. Liszt's intentions were mostly altruistic, putting his
extraordinary talent for pianistic recreation at the service of composers ill served
by an age with no electronic means of disseminating music and very few full-
time professional orchestras: for his friend Berlioz he transcribed the whole of
the Symphonie fantastique, Harold en Italie plus a couple of overtures, while for
his son-in-law Wagner he produced piano versions of a dozen or more extracts.
Then there were the elaborations what could be considered rhapsodies or
fantasies on the originals - where the original music went through the same sort
of mill as the Hungarian gipsy music, whose fate was described by Bela Bartók:
That which the hands of Franz Liszt touched was first crushed to pulp, then
moulded together and so completely reconstructed that his individuality was
indelibly stamped on it, as though it had been his original idea from the beginning.
What he ultimately created, through this seeming mixture of foreign elements,
became the music of Franz Liszt and no other.
Many of Liszt's "elaborations" were based on music from famous operas of the
day, and these works were the mainstays of his concerts during his short touring
career: it was just the right combination of culture and mind-boggling,
transcendental pianism to astound and excite his aristocratic and middle-class
audiences. (And we should not forget that it was for these years on the road that
Liszt invented the solo piano recital as we know it: before pianists had
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played privately in salons or had shared bills with singers and other
instrumentalists.)
The Réminiscences de Don Juan was composed in 1841 at the height of Liszt's
career as a travelling virtuoso: that summer his travels had taken him to
Denmark where the Danebrog-Orden had been bestowed on him, in gratitude for
which he dedicated the piece to King Christian VIII. The "Don Juan" of the title
is, of course, Mozart's Don Giovanni.
Liszt's piece is in three main sections. The first is based the material Mozart
wrote for the appearance of the statue of the Commendatore in Act Two and also
used in the overture. Liszt uses only Mozart's ideas: the way they are assembled
into paragraphs is entirely his own. Like Mozart, he has gone for drama and
intensity, though the drama of his own time was achieved with somewhat larger
(but never more effective) brushstrokes than the original.
The second section is more lyrical, based on Giovanni and Zerlina's Act One
duet Là ci darem la mano. Liszt begins with a reasonably accurate transcription,
even maintaining the duet between the baritone and soprano registers, though he
can't resist the odd short flourish. He follows this with two virtuoso variations,
the first of which keeps fairly close to the structure of Mozart's duet. There
follows a passage linking the second and third section: Liszt seems to have been
in two minds about it, as there are two different versions of it.
For his final section Liszt chose perhaps the opera's most giddy and extrovert
number, Giovanni's Act One aria Fin ch' han dal vino, the so-called Champagne
Aria, a suitable basis for electrifying feats of pianism.
Toccata (1996)
Francis Pott
(b.1957)
The composer has kindly made available the following note on his piece.
A fragment or two of this piece languished in various cupboards and drawers
from 1986 until 1996, when the kindly interest of its eventual dedicatee, Marc-
André Hamelin, and the announcement of a section for short piano solo works in
the 1997 Prokofiev Composing Competition in Moscow conspired jointly to get
the job finally done. The music seeks to offer pyrotechnical interest worthy of
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er
21
50
ne
00,
he
OS
re
en
wert
202
Pot
wers
sin
o get
such a formidable virtuoso while still achieving a degree of substance and
"argument." The American pianist Frederic Chiu gave the Toccata its British
premiere at the 1999 Pianoworks Festival in London. Piers Lane subsequently
introduced that performance during a BBC Radio Three survey of the Festival.
History does not relate at what point he decided to bite the bullet himself, but the
composer nonetheless records here his gratitude that the Toccata should now be
graced by another virtuoso equipped to conquer anything in his path.
The Prokof'yev connection prompted a number of allusions: for example,
Prokofiev's own Toccata, Op. 11, with its flattened seventh in early and
menacing opposition to a dogged tonic pedal, finds a harmonic echo as the
present work gets rhythmically into its stride (a semitone lower). There follow a
number of oblique references to the outer movements of Prokof'yev's Seventh
Sonata and the finale of his Eighth. A further homage, found in what develops
as a "fugato" secondary episode, is to the opening of the Lesghinka from
Lyapunov's splendid youthful set of Études d'exécution transcendante, although
its melodic shape is a good deal altered. A manic cadenza-like passage near the
end of the Toccata salutes aspects of Hamelin's own astounding recorded
cadenza to Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2. Despite this, the piece as a
whole attempts to convey a certain dour relentlessness, and is to be seen as
ominously insistent or enigmatic rather than (until the home straight) simply
headlong. It seeks also to vindicate its title by exploring several contrasting
means of touch, rather than to hammer away with diminishing returns at only
one.
Those thinking of entering a Russian composing competition may care to note
that, having finally been informed (in optimistic Cyrillic) during December 1997
of success the previous March, in March 2001 I await the arrival of the promised
prize with some curiosity, daring to hope in headier moments that its largesse
may cover the postage by which it one day reaches the hands of my puzzled
descendants.
© 2001 Francis Pott
Other programme notes by David Mather
Floral decorations by Sue Bedford
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FORTHCOMING CONCERTS
This is the last concert in the 80th Season of the British Music Society of York.
For our plans in the near future, see inside front cover.
More dates for your diaries:
Saturday, 17 March 2001
Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall, 8 pm
York Symphony Orchestra
Leslie Bresnen director
Francis Jackson's overture Brigantia, Elgar's Cello Concerto (soloist: Simon
Fox) & Chaikovsky's Symphony No.1
Saturday, 24 March 2001
Chapter House of York Minster, 8 pm
Chapter House Choir
Music by Arvo Pärt and John Tavener.
Saturday, 31 March 2001
St Chad's Church, Campleshon Rd, York, 8.00 pm
Chanticleer Singers
Jane Sturmheit director
Kodály's Missa Brevis and Rakhmaninov's Vespers
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Sunday, 1 April 2001
York Minster, 6.30 pm
York Musical Society
Philip Moore conductor
Bach's St Matthew Passion
Wednesday, 11 April 2001
St Olave's Church, Marygate, 9.00 pm
Academy of St Olave's
John Hastie director
John Tavener's The Protecting Veil (cello soloist Tina Waldock), given as a
Meditation for Holy Week. Entry is free. Ends approx. 9.50 pm.
Wednesday, 2 May 2001
Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall, 8 pm
Sarah Beth Briggs (piano)
Brahms' Handel Variations and music by Mozart and Beethoven.
Saturday, 19 May 2001
York Barbican Centre, 7.30 pm
City of York Guildhall Orchestra
Simon Wright director
Brahms' Academic Festival Overture, Sibelius Finlandia, Rakhmaninov's
Paganini Rhapsody (soloist: Alessio Bax - winner of the 2000 Leeds
International Piano Competition) and Ravel's Daphnis & Chloé
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B
B'S!
YORK
BRITISH MUSIC SOCIETY
of YORK
OFFICERS OF THE SOCIETY
President Dr Francis Jackson
Vice-Presidents Jim Briggs, Rosalind Richards
Chairman
Vice-Chairman
Hon. Treasurer
Hon. Asst. Treasurer
Hon. Secretary
Hon. Publicity Secretary
Hon. Programme Secretary
NFMS Representative
Hon Auditor
Members of the Committee
Dr John Dawick
David Mather
Albert Ainsworth
John Petrie
Nigel Dick
Marc Schatzberger
Amanda Crawley
Dr Richard Crossley
Derek Winterbottom
Sue Bedford, Peter Marsden, Brian
Mattinson, John Robinson and Dr Mary
Turner
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 gifts to the Society,
many of them covenanted, we could not hope to balance our books.
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1
Our Benefactors (§) and Patrons are as follows:
Mr A Ainsworth §
Mr RA Bellingham
Dr RJS Crossley
Mr NJ Dick §
Dr FA Jackson
Mrs PJ Armour
Mr & Mrs DAC Blunt & Mr J Briggs §
Mr J Curry S
Mr CGM Gardner
Mr JC Joslin §
Mr RP Lorriman §
Prof. R Lawton §
Mr GC Morcom §
Mrs GO Morcom
Mr & Mrs LW Robinson § Mrs IG Sargent
Mr JB Schofield §
Mrs DC Summers §
Mr JI Watson
Mrs I Stanley S
Mr DA Sutton
Mr R Wilkinson §
Dr DM Bearpark §
NATIONAL FEDERATION
OF MUSIC SOCIETIES
Mrs M Danby-Smith §
Mr JA Gloag
Mr N Lange §
If you would like to become a Benefactor or Patron, please get in touch with our
Hon. Treasurer, either at the ticket desk before each concert, or at 8, Petersway,
York, YO30 6AR. All other correspondence about the Society should be
addressed to the Hon. Secretary, 6, Bishopgate St., York, YO23 1JH.
Registered Charity No.700302
Mr & Mrs B Mattinson §
Canon & Mrs JS Pearson
Mr M Schatzberger
Mr RDC Stevens §
Dr & Mrs GMA Turner §
Mrs HB Wright §
The BMS is affiliated to the National Federation of Music
Societies which represents and supports amateur vocal,
NEMS instrumental and promoting societies throughout the United
Kingdom. The Society also gratefully acknowledges the
assistance of the Royal Bank of Scotland.
Compiled by David Mather and published by the British Music Society of York.
Reproduced by the Trophy & Print Shop, Commercial St, Norton, Malton.
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SURTHWICK
*(6MS 3/2/9(5)
OF
INSTITUTE
HISTORICAL
*
RESEARCH
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BS!
YORK
The Klemperer Trio
Thursday, 11 October 2001
Programme: £1.00
Presented by the British Music Society of York
in association with the Department of Music
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NOTICE BOARD
Welcome to the 81st Season
The BMS would like to welcome you all tonight, to the first concert of our 81st
Season. I'm sure you'll agree our Programme Secretary has done us proud
again. If any of you are here on a £9.00 single ticket, but can't resist the look of
the rest of the season, simply bring tonight's ticket along to the November
concert and you can trade it in for a £38.00 season ticket for no more than the
balance of £29.00.
* Advertising our Concerts
The bigger the audience we can attract to BMS concerts, the more money there
will be for the concerts budget, which means we would be able to afford artists
we can at present only dream of inviting. You can help. You must know of
places where our posters could be seen by potential new audience. Posters for
our next concert are available in the foyer: help yourself and help the Society.
Your Views
The BMS is a society run for the benefit of its members by a dedicated
committee elected from amongst those members. If there is something you
think we should be doing, or should not be doing, don't keep it to yourself:
please tell a committee member. They should all be wearing badges, and,
however it may appear, they do want to hear from you.
Our Website
The BMS has its own dedicated website, containing a short history of the
Society and an updated list of forthcoming concerts. If you haven't found it
already, the URL is http://www.bms-york.org.uk/ Please note, this address
has changed since last season.
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BRITISH MUSIC SOCIETY
of YORK
81st Season
Thursday, 11 October 2001
Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall
The Klemperer Trio
Erika Klemperer violin, Ronald Crutcher cello
Gordon Back piano
Beethoven
Francis Jackson
Piano Trio in E flat major, Op.1 No.1
Piano Trio, Op. 128 (first performance)
INTERVAL
Mendelssohn Piano Trio in D minor, Op.49
For the sake of others in the audience, please turn off all
mobile phones and alarms on watches, calculators etc.,
and use a handkerchief when coughing.
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TONIGHT'S ARTISTS
Formed in 1980, the Klemperer Trio has performed to critical acclaim in the
United States and Europe. A trio of exceptional musicianship, their repertoire
ranges from classical to contemporary.
Born in the United States, Erika Klemperer studied with Josef Gigold, Dorothy
Delay and Ivan Galamian before coming to England in 1974 for post-graduate
studies with Yehudi Menuhin and Yfrah Neaman. She lives in London, where
she combines a busy performing career with being a professor at the Guildhall
School of Music and Drama. Ms Klemperer returns twice a year to the USA for
concert tours.
Ronald Crutcher was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he began studying the
cello at the age of 14, winning the Cincinnati Young Artist Competition at age
17. He studied with Aldo Parisot at Yale University and was the first cellist to
receive the Doctor of Music Arts degree. The recipient of a coveted Fulbright
Fellowship, Dr Crutcher continued his studies in Germany. He made his
Carnegie Hall debut in March 1985 and is President of Chamber Music America
and Director of the School of Music at the University of Texas, Austin.
Gordon Back is established as one of the leading chamber musicians of his
generation. He has performed in the world's major concert venues with artists
such as Yehudi Menuhin, Aaron Rosland, Sarah Chang, Emma Johnson and
Julian Lloyd Webber. He has been in great demand as official accompanist at
great international violin competitions - most notably the Queen Elisabeth, the
Indianapolis, the Paganini and the Tchaikovsky. In addition to a busy
performing career and recording schedule, Mr Back is Head of the Department
of Accompaniment at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.
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PROGRAMME NOTES
Piano Trio in E flat major, Op.1 No.1
Allegro
Adagio cantabile
Scherzo: Allegro assai
Finale: Presto
Ludwig van Beethoven
(1770-1827)
Beethoven belonged to the third generation of his family to have been musicians
in the service of the Electors of Cologne at their court in Bonn: his grandfather
(another Ludwig) had migrated the 200 or so kilometers from Mechelen in what
is now Belgium, but was then the Austrian Netherlands. Young Ludwig was
taken on the musical establishment in a minor capacity, but the seemingly
unstoppable growth of his talent soon attracted attention. It was eventually
decided that the court would pay for him to go to Vienna to study with Haydn.
Beethoven arrived in Vienna in November 1792, a few weeks short of his 22nd
birthday. He began his lessons with Haydn in December and they continued
until January 1794. Their relationship turned out far from perfect, so Beethoven
also had lessons from other, rather stricter mentors.
Around this time the money from Bonn dried up, but Beethoven was far from
lacking support. One of the things that made Vienna the musical centre at this
time was that music amounted to a craze amongst the aristocracy: they were not
only enthusiastic, but knowledgeable, so music flourished as rarely before.
Beethoven quickly found admirers, not least Prince Lichnowsky. As Franz
Gerhard Wegeler, a close friend of the teenage Beethoven, recalled in 1838:
Carl, Prince Lichnowsky was a great benefactor, indeed friend, of
Beethoven. The Prince even took Beethoven into his house as a guest, where
he remained for at least a few years. I found him there toward the end of 1794
and he was still there when I left in the middle of 1796. However, Beethoven
almost always kept lodgings in the country at the same time.
The Prince was a great lover and connoisseur of music. He played the piano,
and by studying Beethoven's works and playing them more or less well, he
tried to prove to Beethoven that he did not need to change anything in his style
of composition, even though the difficulties of his works were often pointed out
to him. There were performances at the Prince's house every Friday morning.
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Besides our friend, four salaried musicians ... took part Beethoven always
accepted the comments of thee gentlemen with pleasure. Once when I was
there, for instance, Kraft, the famous cellist, pointed out to him that he should
mark a passage in the finale of the Third Trio, Op.1, with sulla corda G.
With such a reputation it was perhaps inevitable that Beethoven should think
very carefully about the first work of his to appear in print - the first, that is,
except for some juvenilia published in 1783 to present him as a second Mozart.
In the end his Opus One was a set of three piano trios, composed during 1794
and 1795 though possibly reworking earlier material. It was a good choice,
combining chamber music, which would recommend itself to aristocratic
patrons, and the piano, of which Beethoven was one of the leading exponents.
The Trios were published on a subscription basis in July/August 1795.
Beethoven persuaded 123 subscribers to put their names down for 241 copies at
one ducat each. He paid the printer only one florin per copy, realising a profit of
around 350%. The publication was diplomatically dedicated to Prince Carl.
Op.1 is dominated by the Third Trio, the stormy C minor, which Haydn declared
was so advanced the public wouldn't be ready for it - an opinion which did little
to improve the relationship between the two men. The C minor Trio might have
the greater reputation, but while it is still systematically and persistently
battering down the door, the E flat Trio, like No.2 in G (which the London
Fortepiano Trio played for us in our 95-96 Season), has already charmed its way
in.
The E flat Trio's opening Allegro is vintage early Beethoven - witty, charming,
bursting with good ideas and almost embarrassingly eager to be liked. The clue
to the slow movement is in the tempo marking: Adagio cantabile. Slow slow
movements - adagios rather than andantes were very much a Beethoven
hallmark; and, as the "cantabile" suggests, the accent here is very much on
melody, often with an almost Mozartian turn of phrase.
The Scherzo, though, couldn't be anyone but Beethoven - starting in the wrong
key and doing just about everything it can to wrong-foot you elsewhere. And
it's difficult to imagine anyone but Beethoven having the courage to risk the
Trio section, a confection built seemingly of nothing, like musical candyfloss.
The finale is as close to madcap as Beethoven gets, and one joke modulation
towards the end strikes even the composer as so funny he can't help laughing at
it himself: the cackle of the instruments entering fortissimo is unmistakable.
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Trio for violin, cello and piano Op.128
world premiere
Allegro moderato
Pastoral
Allegro
Francis Jackson
(b.1917)
Dr Jackson, the Society's chairman for many years, has kindly provided us with
the following note on his new Piano Trio, which receives its first performance
tonight.
The Trio was composed to a commission from the Klemperer Trio and was
completed in March 2001. It has its roots in the experience gained in the 1930s
at the weekly trio sessions in Malton Vicarage during my tenure of the post of
organist at the Parish Church. There are elements in it dating back to that period
- elements which seem to have stood the test of time and offered themselves for
further use. One of these is to be heard in the second movement - a simple and
ingenuous canon, originally a student counterpoint exercise.
From this fact it may (truthfully) be deduced that the harmonic language is
conventional and in no way exploratory or way-out. No apology is offered for
this, since that is not my composing method: experimentation - "pushing out the
frontiers of music" - has always caused sterility. My upbringing in music - and
perhaps my nature fundamentally has determined that music must be the
expression of human emotion, beauty being its aim and object. Beauty was at
one time an unfashionable pursuit (in other areas as well as music), giving rise to
an opposing style which to some was stimulating and to others anathema, in my
case stifling my desire to continue composing.
Advancing age perhaps, and a change in attitude generally which has been
discernible since the breakdown of the twelve-note system, now provide a more
welcome climate for those who require their music to be more immediately
acceptable. Happily, there can be room for all types, diversity being an essential
concomitant of life.
The work begins in sonata form, the first subject a robust dual motif in a stern C
minor shared between strings and piano. This changes suddenly to a softer,
cantabile section initiated by the cello. A third soon follows, given to the piano
in octaves accompanied by cello pizzicati. A forte subito statement of the first
subject starts off the development, in which the themes figure in various guises.
The recapitulation then arrives, at the loudest point so far.
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The Pastoral was begun in north Africa in 1944. It begins with eight bars of solo
violin; then another strain on the cello is extended and leads to the canon
between the two strings, which starts off the scherzo section. A second idea,
more legato, follows, but still in strict canon, ending in a pause. Mutes are
applied, but canon persists as the movement's first phrase of eight bars is heard,
now on the violin and cello alone; and eventually the hushed coda bids a
regretful farewell to the original canon theme.
The third movement has its origins in a flute piece of the same pre-war vintage.
It always seemed, after its single performance, that stronger forces were needed
and that an additional instrument might fit the bill. The adaptation worked
easily and various adjustments proved beneficial.
In contrast to the darker minor key of the first movement, the mood is light-
hearted and gay. The strings enter with their introductory running quavers and
the piano enters with another motif which is taken up by the other instruments.
Soon some heavy chords in unison usher in the second subject in the mediant
key of E. The development begins softly with the initial running quavers and
continues with the customary reviewing and combining of the various motifs,
attaining their recapitulation and, it is hoped, their right and true fulfilment in the
coda.
INTERVAL
Coffee and drinks are available in the foyer. Coffee is 80p a cup: to find us, just
go past the bar, out on to the landing, and turn to the left.
·0
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1
)
()
Piano Trio No.1 in D minor, Op.49
Molto allegro agitato
Andante con moto tranquillo
Scherzo: Leggiero e vivace
Finale: Allegro assai appassionato
Felix Mendelssohn
(1809-1847)
The D minor is widely considered one of the highlights of the piano trio
repertory. Mendelssohn wrote it in June and July 1839 when he was 30. He was
based at the time in Leipzig where he had been in charge of the concerts of the
Gewandhaus Orchestra for the previous four years. The year before, alongside
two string quartets, a violin sonata and a cello sonata, he had also made a start
on the famous E minor Violin Concerto, though ideas for this remained mostly
in his head: he didn't get round to producing the score until 1844.
1839, by contrast, was a slack year, the only other work of significance apart
from the Trio being the overture and songs he wrote for a production of Victor
Hugo's play Ruy Blas, which he hated: he described it in a letter to his mother as
"detestable and more utterly beneath contempt than you could believe." The
only reason he wrote music for it at all was that the production was being
mounted for the benefit of the Theatrical Pension Fund: even so, he tried to get
away without writing an overture, until the producers used a form of moral
blackmail and he gave in.
Not long
That October Mendelssohn's second child, Marie, was born.
afterwards a close friend, the composer and pianist Ferdinand Hiller came for a
long stay, having just lost his mother. Mendelssohn naturally played him the D
minor Trio, his latest work. Hiller was delighted with it, but did have one
reservation - the piano part.
Mendelssohn gives a great deal of arpeggio-based figuration to the piano, and, in
doing so, had seen no reason, as it were, to interfere with nature: he had left the
arpeggios pretty much raw. Hiller, though, had been living in Paris, where the
piano world was dominated by, amongst others, Mendelssohn's ever-so-slightly
younger contemporaries Chopin and Liszt. The new fashion with such arpeggio-
based passagework, he told Mendelssohn, was to devise less hackneyed patterns,
often introducing colourful, non-harmony notes. Mendelssohn was reluctant at
first to make any changes, but Hiller pleaded with him not to be so old-
fashioned, and eventually the two men sat down and tried out some possible
replacements for outworn figurations.
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Mendelssohn gave in and spent some time tweaking the piano part. As Hiller
wrote in his 1874 book on the composer:
One day, when I found him working at it, he played me a bit he had shaped
exactly the way I had suggested to him on the piano, and he called out to me,
"That is to remain as a reminder of you."
The Trio was an instant success, and Mendelssohn played it many times in the
years left to him. He played it, for instance, in a concert in Blackfriars (London)
on 5 June 1844. The violin part was played by the then 12-year-old Joseph
Joachim, who later recalled an instance typical of Mendelssohn's professional
modesty. By mischance only the violin and cello parts of the Trio had been
brought to the concert room. Mendelssohn had no worries about playing the
work from memory, but insisted that some piece of music or other be placed on
the music stand of the piano and pages periodically turned, so he would not
seem to be outdoing his partners.
The Trio's first movement is built on the tension derived from taking what
should be relaxed, melodic material and placing it in a setting of restless energy.
It allows him occasionally to soften and relax, whilst retaining instant access to
huge emotional voltage. The slow movement, which lies second, is a complete
contrast. Cast in the submediant of B flat major, it is one of Mendelssohn's
signature songs without words in all but name.
The Scherzo, in D major, is that other Mendelssohn speciality, the lightfoot
"fairy" scherzo, and one of his best. In fact, the description scherzo really refers
only to the style of the music: gone are most of the structural features of the
classical scherzo - most noticeably a distinct trio section.
The Finale returns to the D minor and darker mood of the first movement, and as
the passion mounts the piano takes more of the centre stage. Indeed, the
movement is sometimes a little bit too like a piano concerto with an orchestra of
two for the string players' entire comfort. But the music is so heart-felt, so
committed, that one is prepared to forgive Mendelssohn almost anything, even
the inescapable jangling rhythm of the main theme.
Programme notes by Francis Jackson and David Mather
Floral decorations by Sue Bedford
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FORTHCOMING CONCERTS
The next concert in the 81st Season of the British Music Society of York,
presented in association with the Department of Music at the University, takes
place as usual in the Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall, beginning at 8 pm.
*
Friday, 16 November 2001
Angela East cello
Ekaterina Apekisheva piano
Bach
Beethoven
More dates for
Cello Suite No.2 in D minor
Cello Sonata in C major, Op.102 No.1
plus smaller works by Cassado, Mendelssohn, Rimsky-Korsakov, Casals,
Popper and Fauré
your diaries:
Saturday, 13 October 2001
York Barbican Centre, 7.30
City of York Guildhall Orchestra
Simon Wright music director
Shostakovich's Festival Overture, Brahms' St Anthony Variations, Debussy's
Prélude à l'Après-midi d'un faune and Brahms' Second Symphony
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Saturday, 13 October 2001
Central Hall, University of York, 7.30
***
BBC Philharmonic Orchestra
Yakov Kriezburg conductor
Beethoven's Third Piano Concerto (soloist - Ashley Wass) and Rakhmaninov's
Second Symphony
Wednesday, 17 October 2001
Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall, 8.00
Yggdrasil String Quartet
Quartets by Haydn (Op.54/1) and Brahms (Op.51/1), plus Peter Maxwell
Davies' Quintet for trumpet & strings (John Wallace - - trumpet)
Wednesday, 24 October 2001
Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall, 8.00
European Union Chamber Orchestra
Lavard Skoul Larsen director
Handel's Concerto Grosso Op.6/7 and Cuckoo and Nightingale Organ Concerto
(Peter Seymour - organ), with Mozart's Serenade in C minor K.406 and
Divertimento in B flat, K.137
Saturday, 10 November 2001
York Minster, 7.30
York Musical Society
Philip Moore conductor
Elgar's Sea Pictures and Vaughan Williams' A Sea Symphony
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BRITISH MUSIC SOCIETY
of YORK
OFFICERS OF THE SOCIETY
President Dr Francis Jackson
Vice-Presidents
Chairman
Vice-Chairman
Hon. Treasurer
Hon. Asst. Treasurer
Hon. Secretary
Hon. Publicity Secretary
Hon. Programme Secretary
NFMS Representative
Hon Auditor
Members of the Committee
Jim Briggs, Rosalind Richards
David Mather
John Robinson
Albert Ainsworth
John Petrie
Nigel Dick
Marc Schatzberger
Amanda Crawley
Dr Richard Crossley
Derek Winterbottom
Sue Bedford, Dr John Dawick, Peter
Marsden, Bob Stevens and Dr Mary Turner
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 gifts to the Society,
many of them covenanted, we could not hope to balance our books.
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Our Benefactors (§) and Patrons are as follows:
Mr A Ainsworth §
Mr RA Bellingham
Dr RJS Crossley
Mr NJ Dick §
Dr FA Jackson
Prof. R Lawton §
Mr GC Morcom §
Mrs PJ Armour
Mr & Mrs DAC Blunt § Mr J Briggs §
Mr J Curry §
Mr CGM Gardner
Mr JC Joslin §
Mr RP Lorriman §
Mrs GO Morcom 2
Mr & Mrs LW Robinson § Mrs IG Sargent
Mr JB Schofield §
Mrs I Stanley §
Mr DA Sutton
Mrs DC Summers §
Mr JI Watson
Mr R Wilkinson §
Dr DM Bearpark §
Mrs M Danby-Smith §
Mr JA Gloag
Mr N Lange §
Registered Charity No.700302
Mr & Mrs B Mattinson §
Canon & Mrs JS Pearson
Mr M Schatzberger
Mr RDC Stevens §
Dr & Mrs GMA Turner §
Mrs HB Wright §
If you would like to become a Benefactor or Patron, please get in touch with our
Hon. Treasurer, either at the ticket desk before each concert, or at 8, Petersway,
York, YO30 6AR. All other correspondence about the Society should be
addressed to the Hon. Secretary, 6, Bishopgate St., York, YO23 1JH.
Making
Music societies throughout the United Kingdom. The Society
The BMS is affiliated to Making Music, the National
Federation of Music Societies, which represents and
supports amateur vocal, instrumental and promoting
THE NATIONAL FEDERATION
also gratefully acknowledges the assistance of the
OF MUSIC SOCIETIES Royal Bank of Scotland.
Compiled by David Mather and published by the British Music Society of York.
Reproduced by the Trophy & Print Shop, Commercial St, Norton, Malton.
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BORTHWICK INSTITUTE
BMS 3/2/9 (4)
HISTORICAL
OF
RESEARCH
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B'S
YORK
Angela East &
Ekaterina Apekisheva
(cello & piano)
Friday, 16 November 2001
Programme: £1.00
Presented by the British Music Society of York
in association with the Department of Music
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NOTICE BOARD
* Advertising our Concerts
The bigger the audience we can attract to BMS concerts, the more money there
will be for the concerts budget, which means we would be able to afford artists
we can at present only dream of inviting. You can help. You must know of
places where our posters could be seen by potential new audience. Posters for
our next concert are available in the foyer: help yourself and help the Society.
Forthcoming Concerts
One of the ways we are increasing our publicity effort is by reciprocal
advertising with other concert promoters: when they have a concert coming up
shortly we tell our audience about it and they reciprocate. You will find details
of these concerts towards the end of this book.
* Your Views
The BMS is a society run for the benefit of its members by a dedicated
committee elected from amongst those members. If there is something you
think we should be doing, or should not be doing, don't keep it to yourself:
please tell a committee member. They should all be wearing badges, and,
however it may appear, they do want to hear from you.
**** Our Website
The BMS has its own dedicated website, containing a short history of the
Society and an updated list of forthcoming concerts. If you haven't found it
already, the URL is http://www.bms-york.org.uk/
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BRITISH MUSIC SOCIETY
of YORK
81st Season
Friday, 16 November 2001
Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall
Angela East cello
Ekaterina Apekisheva piano
Cassadó
Bach
Mendelssohn
Fauré
Rimsky-Korsakov
Requiebros
Suite for cello No.2 in D minor, BWV 1008
Lied ohne Wörte, Op.109
Papillon, Op.77
Flight of the bumblebee
Casals
Popper
Martinů
INTERVAL
Beethoven Cello Sonata No.4 in C major, Op. 102 No.1
El cant dels ocells
Papillon, Op.3 No.4
Variations on a theme of Rossini
For the sake of others in the audience, please turn off all
mobile phones and alarms on watches, calculators etc.,
and use a handkerchief when coughing.
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TONIGHT'S ARTISTS
Angela East is a most dynamic and controversial cellist who has four passions.
The first of these is her solo work that often combines recitals with educational
events: she plays five different instruments - the viola da gamba, bass violin,
baroque cello, five-string cello and classical cello. She is the founder/director of
the Revolutionary String Quartet and Revolutionary Drawing Room, ensembles
specialising in chamber music during Europe's revolutionary years, from the
French Revolution of 1789 to the revolutions of 1848. She is a member of the
surrealist and theatrical baroque ensemble Red Priest; and finally she is well
known as a continuo player committed to the development of the art - she
played for 12 years in Sir John Eliot Gardiner's English Baroque Soloists.
Katya Apekisheva was born in Moscow in 1975. Her family were musicians,
and she started to play the piano at the age of five; a year later she entered the
legendary Gnesin School of music where she was taught by Ada Traub and
Yevgeni Kissin's mentor Anna Kantor. In 1992 she emigrated to Israel,
continuing her studies with Irina Berkovich at the Rubin Academy of Music in
Jerusalem. Two years later she moved to London to study at the Royal College
of Music with Irina Zaritskaya. In 1996 she won silver medal at the Dudley
International Piano Competition and was a finalist in the Leeds Competition.
She graduated from the RCM the following year with the Terence Judd Award
as the Most Outstanding Pianist of the year.
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Requiebros
PROGRAMME NOTES
The cellist and composer Gaspar Cassadó was born in Barcelona, where his
father was organist of the Basilica of Our Lady of Mercy. His musical studies
began with his father and continued at the Conservatory in Barcelona, but in
1910, still barely in his teens, he went to Paris to study with that other great
Catalan cellist, Pau Casals (of whom more later). Cassadó emerged after the
First World War as one of the world's great cellists, in demand both as soloist
and chamber music player: he gave recitals with the pianist Artur Rubinstein and
played in trios with Yehudi Menuhin and Louis Kentner.
Cassado's compositional style was influenced by Ravel and de Falla: he wrote
an oratorio, an orchestral Catalan Rhapsody and, unsurprisingly, a Cello
Concerto, but he was most prolific in the field of chamber music involving the
cello. His Requiebros appeared in 1937 and is dedicated to Casals. The title is
the word used to describe those little compliments lovers pay each other.
Suite for cello No.2 in D minor, BWV 1008
Prélude
Allemande
Courante
Sarabande
Gaspar Cassadó
(1897 - 1966)
Minuet I & II
Gigue
Johann Sebastian Bach
(1685-1750)
Much of Bach's instrumental music was composed, or had its origins, during the
period he spent as Kapellmeister (effectively director of music) in Cöthen, at the
court of Prince Leopold. Bach had left his previous position, at Weimar, under
something of a cloud. There were in fact two ducal households at Weimar, and
the musicians were employed by both of them - unfortunately so, since the two
dukes were at loggerheads. Bach was in fact only the court organist at Weimar
and, when it seemed likely that he would be passed over for the recently vacated
Kapellmeister position, decided it was time to move. Leopold of Cöthen was
brother-in-law to one of the Weimar dukes, and Bach was confirmed as Cöthen
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Kapellmeister in August 1717. Getting his release from Weimar proved
somewhat trickier: he was thrown into prison on 6 November and spent an
uncomfortable four weeks there until his dishonourable discharge from Weimar
on 2 December.
Cöthen, where he arrived four days later, was altogether different. Prince
Leopold in Bach's own words "loved and understood music": he had studied in
Rome and could sing and play the violin, viola da gamba and harpsichord. He
had a first-rate musical establishment, many of the musicians having been
recruited when the Berlin court orchestra was disbanded in 1713. More to the
point, the court chapel was Calvinist (as Leopold's father had been), which
meant no elaborate religious music was required. And so Bach had excellent
instrumentalists to write for and no distractions.
The quality and scope of the Cöthen musical establishment are plainly reflected
in the music of the Brandenburg Concertos, whose sumptuous, not to say exotic,
instrumentation and often virtuoso writing were tailor made for the Cöthen
orchestra: certainly they were well beyond the resources of the Margrave of
Brandenburg's band.
What put an end to such an ideal time for Bach? A woman, of course. In
December 1721 Leopold married his cousin Friderica, Princess of Anhalt-
Bernburg. She had no interest in culture of any kind, and so, shortly, neither did
Leopold. Bach saw the writing on the wall and eventually applied for the post of
Kantor at the Thomaskirche in Leipzig in December 1722. He was appointed in
April 1723 and took up his post the following month. He remained at Leipzig
until his death. Ironically, Princess Friderica died in April 1723, too late for
Bach to change his mind.
Amongst the greatest chamber music Bach wrote at Cöthen are the six Sonatas
and Partitas for unaccompanied violin (BWV 1011 - 1006) and six Suites for
unaccompanied cello (BWV 1007 - 1012). The Cello Suites survive only in a
copy made by Bach's second wife during his time at Leipzig.
Music for a single melody instrument is notoriously difficult to compose, since
the one line has to suggest both harmony and melody in order for the result to
make perfect sense. Members of the viol and violin families, however, do at
least have the advantage that chords are possible, and so most solo writing of
this kind employs them. It was a type of music that had been composed in Italy
for at least a couple of centuries and there was already a strong tradition in North
Germany. Bach's contributions, however, are without question the greatest
achievements in the repertory.
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The Cello Suites were almost certainly composed for the cellist Christian
Bernhard Linike, who joined the staff at Cöthen in 1716 and remained there until
his death around the new year of 1751 (he was buried on 3 January). All six
Suites have the same line-up of movements, except that the movement pair
preceding the final Gigue are Minuets in Suites 1 & 2, Bourrées in 3 & 4 and
Gavottes in 5 & 6.
The D minor Second Suite starts with a splendidly discursive Prelude, which is
followed by those staples of the Baroque suite form: Allemande (by tradition
sedate and serious), Courante (more flowing and in triple time) and Sarabande
(slow and stately). At this point Bach introduces a pair of minuets, Minuet I is
repeated after Minuet II: as usual in a minor-key piece, Minuet II is in the major
- the only time the Suite so much as visits D major. The Suite saves its liveliest
movement till last, the customary restless and energetic Gigue.
Lied ohne Wörte
Felix Mendelssohn
(1809-1847)
In his early 20s, Mendelssohn wrote for the English publisher Novello a set of
uncomplicated character pieces for piano, producing six works of supreme
delicacy, grace, charm and effortless craftsmanship. He gave them the apt title
Lieder ohne Wörte [-songs without words], underlining their fundamentally
lyrical nature: Novellos, needing an English equivalent, came up with the less
convincing "Melodies for the piano." To begin with, the set didn't sell
particularly well, but as Mendelssohn, on his many visits to the country,
charmed his way into English hearts and drawing rooms, the six-piece set began
to sell - and was followed by seven more, culminating in the two sets Op.85 and
Op.102, published posthumously.
Perhaps his last word in the song without words format, however, was Op. 109,
not for piano alone, this time, but for cello and piano. Mendelssohn was a great
contributor to the repertory for this combination, largely because of his younger
brother Paul, a gifted cellist who, in the end, plumped for the security of a career
in the family banking business rather than a vocation in music.
Op.109 is a leisurely piece in D major, with a more agitated central section in
the minor.
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Papillon, Op.77
Gabriel Fauré
(1845-1924)
In 1880, Fauré wrote one of the most frequently played works in the cello
repertory, his Élégie. It wasn't performed until three years later, in 1883, but it
was immediately snapped up by a publisher. The following year the publisher
asked Fauré for a companion piece. He complied fairly quickly: his organist's
salary was hardly generous, and he made so little from his published music he
was keen to make a little extra from such commissions.
The result was Papillon. For some reason Hamelle didn't publish it for another
dozen or so years: one thing is for sure, it can't have been the quality of the
music that caused the delay. For the Elegy's companion, Fauré decided on a
marked contrast. Against the melancholy, serious and sometimes serene tone of
the Elegy, he set this featherweight perpetuum mobile, which amply earns its
name of "butterfly."
Flight of the Bumblebee
Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov
(1844-1908)
I was tempted to say nothing at all about this piece: one, it's so well known
anyway, and two it's so short the artists will be back in their dressing rooms
long before you'd finished reading. If you're curious about what gave rise to
this charming insect impression, then read on. If not, sit back and enjoy the fun.
Rimsky loved the fantasy world of Russian and Oriental folklore: his most
famous composition, after all, the orchestral Sheherazade, and he based many
of his operas on stories of the kind. His 1899-1900 opera Сказка о Lapе
Сarmane [-Tale of Tsar' Saltan] is an adaptation of one of Pushkin's verse
fairy-tales, The tale of Tsar' Saltan, of his son the mighty warrior Tsarevich
Gvidon Saltanovich and of the beautiful Tsarevna Swan. The "scherzo" Пoлër
шмеля [-flight of the bee] closes Act One. I'll do my best to condense the story
leading up to its appearance.
Tsar' Saltan marries the youngest of three sisters and goes off to war. The older
sisters spread the rumour that she is about to give birth to a monster. In fact she
gives birth to a boy, the Tsarevich Gvidon, but nevertheless mother and baby are
cast adrift in a barrel. After 17 years they land on an island. Gvidon rescues a
swan, which tells him of a wondrous city no longer in the power of an evil
magician. The city adopts Gvidon as its tsar' and the swan promises eventually
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ré
2:
de
a
of
S
)
)
to appear in its true shape: in the meantime, if he needs help for any reason he
only has to call. Merchants arrive, bound for Tsar' Saltan's land. As he watches
their ship sail away, Gvidon is filled with longing to get in touch with his father.
He calls on the swan, which turns him into a bee, so he can catch the ship up.
Curtain.
INTERVAL
Coffee and drinks are available in the foyer. Coffee is 80p a cup: to find us, just
go past the bar, out on to the landing, and turn to the left.
Cello Sonata No.4 in C, Op.102 No.1
Andante - Allegro vivace
Adagio - Tempo d'Andante - Allegro vivace
Ludwig van Beethoven
(1770-1827)
I remember on my first guided tour of Vienna the courier pointing out a plaque
bearing the information that Beethoven had stayed in the building: but she
straightway warned us not to get too excited by this, since he is known to have
lived at no fewer than 60 addresses across the city.
In the summer of 1815 he was staying in the house of Countess Erdődy. Like
many musical aristocrats, the Countess had her own musical establishment,
which included the famous cellist Joseph Lincke. Lincke had previously been
on the staff of Count Razumovsky, playing in the string quartet led by Ignaz
Schuppanzigh, which had performed under the composer's watchful eye the
Quartets that bear the Count's name. The two players were later to reform their
ensemble to play Beethoven's late quartets. This gives some measure of
Lincke's experience in playing Beethoven's music and of the trust the composer
had in him.
While staying at Countess Erdődy's Beethoven was working on the first of his
series of late piano sonatas, the A major, Op.101, together with several lesser, or
less well-known, works. The two sketchbooks covering these pieces also contain
sketches for two works which, tantalisingly, remained unfinished - a piano
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concerto in D major and a piano trio in F minor. It was perhaps inevitable that
the presence of Lincke in the same house would prompt Beethoven to write
something for him, and the result was the pair of Cello Sonatas, Op.102,
composed in the summer of 1815 and published two years later with a
dedication to the Countess.
Both sonatas are unusually experimental. The second, in D major, is the more
regular in its construction, but the C major is one of the most radical structures
to which Beethoven gave the name Sonata. The closest he'd come to it was the
companion piece to the Moonlight Sonata, the E flat Sonata Op.27 No.1, whose
form was so unusual when he felt compelled to give it the title Sonata quasi una
fantasia.
The C major Sonata begins with an Andante introduction, somewhat after the
fashion of the E flat Trio, Op.70 No.2. This gives on to a sonata-form Allegro
vivace. What's so unusual about that? Nothing, except that the Allegro vivace is
in A minor. I can't think of another example in any sonata where Beethoven
does this: starts his first movement with an introduction in the home key of the
sonata as a whole, but then puts the main body of the movement in a different
key. If you can think of one, please do tell me. The A minor Allegro vivace is
powerful, electric stuff, full of abrupt contrasts and wild gestures - some so
extraordinary it can easily sound like the performers have made a mistake.
The second movement is in three linked sections. First comes the slowest, an
Adagio, which again is in the nature of an introduction: Beethoven had used
such slow introductions in all three earlier cello sonatas to take the place of
proper slow movements, which were difficult because the pianos of the time
couldn't sustain nearly as well as the cello. By 1815 they could, just (Op.102
No.2 has the only complete slow movement in the five sonatas), but here
Beethoven didn't need one. After the Adagio comes a brief return of the
Andante music from the first movement, and this gives on to the main body of
the finale, another Allegro vivace, full of Beethoven at his most bumptious and
country comical. It's packed with eccentricities and jokes, which you are
allowed to laugh at - special dispensation from the BMS Committee.
El cant dels ocells
Pau Casals
(1876-1973)
If you're as old as me, you probably still think of him as the Spanish cellist
Pablo Casals. He would have hated it. He was born in Vendrell, just along the
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a
re
es
e
Se
10
me
TO
20
e
11
his name Pau. Casals was a man of great integrity, an avowed republican and
hater of Fascism. He was an implacable opponent of Franco, and after the civil
war settled in Prades, a Catalan village just over the border in France. He
refused to play in Spain or in any country that recognised the Franco
government. After the Second World War, when he realised the Allies were
going to take no action against fascist Spain, he gave up playing altogether,
though he relented to the extent of taking part in recordings and in Festivals in
Prades, in nearby Perpignan, and in Puerto Rico where he settled in 1956. He
travelled to Spain only once, for a relative's funeral.
El cant dels ocells [= the song of the birds] is a traditional Catalan carol. It was
very close to his heart, both for the eloquent beauty of its tune and for its
expression of man's longing for liberty. He arranged it for several combinations
involving the cello and it became something of a signature piece toward the end
of his life - he played it at most of his appearances.
Papillon, Op.3 No.4
David Popper
(1843-1913)
Popper's is not a name you are likely to know unless you move in cello circles,
in which case it's likely he'll crop up quite regularly. David Popper was an
Austrian cellist, born in Prague; he spent much of his adult life on the road as a
performer, but settled in 1896 in Budapest as a professor at the Royal
Conservatory. He composed four concertos and a host of smaller pieces for the
cello, nearly all of them reflecting his romantic, virtuosic style of playing.
Papillon comes from a set of six Character Pieces, published in Leipzig in 1880
as his Op.3. The first and fourth pieces bear the title "Masked Ball Scene": No.1
has the subtitle Arlequin, while this fourth piece is Papillon - butterfly.
Variations on a theme by Rossini
Bohuslav Martinů
(1890 - 1959)
Martinů wrote this set of variations in New York City in October 1942. Though
born and brought up in what would later be called Czechoslovakia, he settled in
Paris in 1923, where he remained, living in great poverty, until the German
occupation in 1940. Since he was on a Nazi blacklist, he had to escape, which
he managed with some difficulty on a ship from Lisbon to America. He arrived
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in New York with his wife in March 1941. His first big break in the USA was a
commission from Koussevitzky for what became his First Symphony.
The Rossini Variations followed not long afterwards. The Russian-born cellist
Gregor Pyatigorsky was looking to expand the then rather limited cello
repertory: Martinů intended the Variations to be the first of a series of works for
him, but in the event none followed. Pyatigorsky gave the first performance in
New York in May 1943.
Surprisingly, this was only the second time Martinů had used variation form, the
first being in the Serenade for seven instruments of two years before. There are
four variations in all, and despite the title, the theme is not quite Rossini's. I
suspect that what happened is that Martinů, who had trained as a violinist, took
his theme not direct from Moses' aria Dal tuo stellato soglio in Rossini's 1818
opera Moses in Egitto, but via Niccolò Paganini's Moses-Fantasie. The trouble
is, Paganini quotes the Rossini theme in its original form only in the introduction
of his piece: his three bravura G-string variations are in fact based on his own
rather different version of it. Martinů probably just took Paganini's "theme from
Rossini" at face value.
Programme notes by David Mather
Floral decorations by Sue Bedford
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2
7
FORTHCOMING CONCERTS
The next concert in the 81st Season of the British Music Society of York,
presented in association with the Department of Music at the University, takes
place as usual in the Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall, beginning at 8 pm.
Friday, 14 December 2001
Haydn
Szymanowski
Beethoven
More dates for
Schidlof Quartet
Quartet in G, Op.33 No.5
Quartet No.1
Quartet in C, Op.59 No.3
your diaries:
Saturday, 17 November 2001
Chapter House of York Minster, 8 pm
Chapter House Choir
Jane Sturmheit director
The English Renaissance - treasures from the "golden age of polyphony"
featuring sacred music by Byrd, Weelkes and Tallis
Saturday, 24 November 2001
St Olave's Church, Marygate, 8 pm
York Cantores
Marion Best conductor
Sacred music by Gerald Finzi, in celebration of his centenary - includes Lo, the
full final Sacrifice, God is gone up and Magnificat
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Wednesday, 28 November 2001
Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall, 8 pm
Stephen Varcoe & Peter Seymour
(baritone & fortepiano)
A complete performance of Schubert's most famous song cycle, Winterreise
Saturday, 1 December 2001
Central Hall, University of York, 8 pm
York Symphony Orchestra
Leslie Bresnen conductor
Verdi's overture The Sicilian Vespers, Wagner's Good Friday Spell from
Parsifal, Weber's First Clarinet Concerto (Caroline Vaughan - clarinet), the
Ballet Music from Gounod's Faust, and Liszt's symphonic poem Tasso
Wednesday, 5 December 2001
Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall, 8 pm
University Orchestra
John Stringer conductor
Musorgsky's Prelude to Khovanshchina and Pictures from an Exhibition (in
Ravel's orchestration), and Rakhmaninov's Second Piano Concerto (Angelina
Marr --- piano)
Saturday, 8 December 2001
Salvation Army Citadel, Gillygate, 8 pm
Micklegate Singers
Nicholas Carter director
From the grave to the cradle - a programme of unaccompanied choral music by
British composers moving from the Funeral Ikos of Tavener to Christ's Nativity
by Britten
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The
the
man
BRITISH MUSIC SOCIETY
of YORK
York
Symphony Orchestra
Conductor: Leslie Bresnen
Leader: Claire Jowett
Soloist: Caroline Vaughan (Clarinet)
Overture: The Sicilian Vespers
Good Friday Music from 'Parsifal'
Clarinet Concerto No.1 in F minor
Ballet Music from 'Faust'
Tasso, Lament and Triumph (Symphonic Poem No.2)
Central Hall
University of York
Saturday 1st December 2001
at 8pm
Making
Music
Verdi
Wagner
Weber
Gounod
Liszt
Tickets (unreserved) £8.00 /£7.00 (concessions) £4 (children under 16) from
Ticket World, Patrick Pool, York, or members of the orchestra or at the door.
The YSO is a Registered Charity N° 515145
gh
ty,
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Th
the
ma
BRITISH MUSIC SOCIETY
of YORK
er
ough
iety,
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BRITISH MUSIC SOCIETY
of YORK
OFFICERS OF THE SOCIETY
President Dr Francis Jackson
Vice-Presidents
Chairman
Vice-Chairman
Hon. Treasurer
Hon. Asst. Treasurer
Hon. Secretary
Hon. Publicity Secretary
Hon. Programme Secretary
NFMS Representative
Hon Auditor
Members of the Committee
Jim Briggs, Rosalind Richards
David Mather
John Robinson
Albert Ainsworth
John Petrie
Nigel Dick
Marc Schatzberger
Amanda Crawley
Dr Richard Crossley
Derek Winterbottom
Sue Bedford, Dr John Dawick, Peter
Marsden, Bob Stevens and Dr Mary Turner
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 gifts to the Society,
many of them covenanted, we could not hope to balance our books.
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Our Benefactors (§) and Patrons are as follows:
Mr A Ainsworth §
Mrs PJ Armour
Mr & Mrs DAC Blunt § Mr J Briggs §
Mr J Curry §
Mr RA Bellingham
Dr RJS Crossley
Mr NJ Dick §
Dr FA Jackson
Prof. R Lawton §
Mr CGM Gardner
Mr JC Joslin §
Mr RP Lorriman §
Mr GC Morcom §
Mrs GO Morcom
Mr & Mrs LW Robinson § Mrs IG Sargent
Mr JB Schofield §
Mrs I Stanley §
Mr DA Sutton
Mrs DC Summers §
Mr JI Watson
Mr R Wilkinson §
Making
Music
THE NATIONAL FEDERATION
OF MUSIC SOCIETIES
Dr DM Bearpark §
If you would like to become a Benefactor or Patron, please get in touch with our
Hon. Treasurer, either at the ticket desk before each concert, or at 8, Petersway,
York, YO30 6AR. All other correspondence about the Society should be
addressed to the Hon. Secretary, 6, Bishopgate St., York, YO23 1JH.
Mrs M Danby-Smith §
Mr JA Gloag
Mr N Lange §
Mr & Mrs B Mattinson §
Canon & Mrs JS Pearson
Registered Charity No.700302
Mr M Schatzberger
Mr RDC Stevens §
Dr & Mrs GMA Turner §
Mrs HB Wright §
The BMS is affiliated to Making Music, the National
Federation of Music Societies, which represents and
supports amateur vocal, instrumental and promoting
societies throughout the United Kingdom.
Society also gratefully acknowledges the assistance
of the Royal Bank of Scotland.
The
INSTITUTE
SURTHWICK
*BMS 3/2/9 (5)
HI
TORICAL
RESEARCH
Compiled David Mather and published by the British Music Society of York.
Reproduced by the Trophy & Print Shop, Commercial St, Norton, Malton.
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BS
YORK
The Falk Quartet
Friday, 14 December 2001
Programme: £1.00
Presented by the British Music Society of York
in association with the artment of Music
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NOTICE BOARD
The Schidlof Quartet
Most of you will have come expecting to hear the Schidlof Quartet at this
evening's concert. The Quartet in fact disbanded a few months ago. It's sad,
but even string quartets are not immune to this kind of separation: after several
years some people feel the need to move on. It happens. However, the group's
leader, Ofer Falk, has formed a new quartet: it gave its first performance in
Berlin in October and will be honouring the outstanding commitments of the
Schidlof. Since he is the only player remaining from the old line-up, Mr Falk
has decided it would not be right to continue with the old name, and the group
wishes to be known as the Falk Quartet. We are pleased to welcome them here
tonight and wish them every success.
Your Views
The BMS is a society run for the benefit of its members by a dedicated
committee elected from amongst those members. If there is something you
think we should be doing, or should not be doing, don't keep it to yourself:
please tell a committee member. They should all be wearing badges, and,
however it may appear, they do want to hear from you.
* Our Website
The BMS has its own dedicated website, containing a short history of the
Society and an updated list of forthcoming concerts. If you haven't found it
already, the URL is http://www.bms-york.org.uk/
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BRITISH MUSIC SOCIETY
of YORK
81st Season
Friday, 14 December 2001
Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall
The Falk Quartet
Ofer Falk & Annabelle Meare violins
Maya Rasooly viola, Mats Lidström cello
Haydn String Quartet in G, Op.33 No.5
Shostakovich String Quartet No.1 in C, Op.49
INTERVAL
Beethoven String Quartet in C, Op.59 No.3
For the sake of others in the audience, please turn off all
mobile phones and alarms on watches, calculators etc.,
and use a handkerchief when coughing.
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TONIGHT'S ARTISTS
Ofer Falk (violin) was born in Israel in 1967 and studied with Ilona Feher and
later with Dora Schwarzberg in Vienna. He has also been coached by Isaac
Stern, Menahem Pressler and members of the Guarneri Quartet. He has won
numerous prizes in international competitions, including the Henryk Szering
special Prize in 1993 and top prizes in the tenth Tchaikovsky International
Competition in Moscow (1994) and in the Montreal International Violin
Competition (1995).
Annabelle Meare (violin) was born in England in 1975. She studied with Mark
Knight at the Guildhall School of Music, from which she graduated in 1999.
During her time there she was awarded many of the string prizes, including the
Warshaw and Schumann Awards. She has since been studying with Lorand
Fenyves at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto.
Maya Rasooly (viola) was born in Israel. Her teachers have included Shmuel
Bernstein and Hagai Shaham at the Rubin Academy in Jerusalem, Miriam Fried
at Indiana University, Rivka Golani in London and Garfield Jackson at the
Royal Academy of Music, where she this year won the Max Gildert Viola Prize.
She plays on a Ceruti viola lent her by the Royal Academy of Music.
Mats Lidström (cello) was born in Stockholm. His many teachers have
included Leonard Rose, Pierre Fournier, William Pleeth, Janos Starker and Lynn
Harrell. He taught at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden 1992-3, before
being made a professor of cello at the Royal Academy of Music in 1993 by
Lynn Harrell. He plays on a 1692 Stradivarius on loan from the Royal Academy
of Music.
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PROGRAMME NOTES
String Quartet in G, Op.33 No.5
Vivace assai
Largo cantabile
Scherzo: Allegro
Finale: Allegretto
Haydn
(1732-1809)
There are a lot of Haydn quartets, 80 or so, depending on how, or which, you
count -- getting on for as many as there are symphonies. Musicians need some
way of identifying which piece they're talking about. Keys are no help: "the
Quartet in F sharp minor" narrows it down to one certainly, but there are ten
quartets each in D major, E flat major and B flat major. And few musicians are
that keen on numbers. So nicknames quickly sprang up. For a few individual
quartets there are such names as the Bird, the Lark, the Sunrise - even the
Razor: for the rest, the sets in which they were published acquired names. The
set of six Quartets, Op.33, is particularly rich in this respect, being known as the
Russian, the Jungfrau or Maiden and the Gli scherzi. The last two are easily
explained: a Berlin publisher decorated the covers of his edition of the Quartets
with the face of a girl and - well, you know musicians, these things stick in their
minds; and then the movement known heretofore as the minuet is for the first
time called either Scherzando or Scherzo in all six quartets - hence the Italian
name "all scherzos".
Haydn completed the Op.33 Quartets in 1781: by that December he was writing
a circular to possible foreign clients offering to supply manuscript copies on a
subscription basis. At the time this was a quite usual preliminary to the release
of engraved copies on the home market, though in this case the publisher Artaria
issued the engraved copies in 1782, rather sooner than was decent after the
subscription manuscript copies, which embarrassed Haydn more than somewhat.
Haydn's circular recommending the subscription copies spoke of the Quartets
being written in "a new and special manner." Opinion has been divided over
this description, some taking it literally, some seeing it as no more than hype-
the advertisers' "new, improved" we have all come to suspect. Certainly there is
nothing noticeably new in intent, structure or technique in comparison with his
previous set of Quartets, the six Op.20 of 1772. What is different is the ease and
fluency with which Haydn handles the radical style he had pioneered in Op.20.
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For Haydn, the years in between Op.20 and Op.33 had been dominated by opera.
The Esterházys had their own opera house and during the mid to late 1770s seem
to have been particularly keen on showing it off to visitors. It was a huge extra
burden on Haydn and was responsible for, amongst other things, a noticeable
falling-off in the quality of the symphonies of the period. But by the end of the
1770s, Haydn could again look outside the opera house. He even had time to
mix with other composers when the family was in residence at its house in
Vienna. At the time he was composing Op.33, these included Mozart, just
beginning his career as a freelance musician in the capital, having been sacked a
few months earlier by the Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg. It was the start of a
friendship between the two, despite the 24 year age gap between them. They
played quartets together, including Op.33, and it was that experience which
inspired the younger composer to write the six Quartets published in 1784 with a
flowery dedication to Haydn.
1781 was also the year the Russian Grand Duke Pavel (tsar' from 1796 until he
was assassinated in 1801) embarked with his German second wife on a
European tour which would last in the end over a year. His mother Catherine
the Great had sent him off on it in October 1781: she was convinced he would
make a hopelessly ineffective ruler and was getting him out of the way largely to
undermine what support he had at court. The couple arrived in Vienna in
November and everything was laid on to impress them. Mozart was
commissioned to write Die Entführung for the visit, though in the end the
performance in Grand Duke's presence had to be delayed until the return
journey in October 1782. The Esterházy musicians also performed before the
visitors. Indeed a quartet actually went to their apartments to play Haydn's
newly composed Op.33: it was for this reason that Artaria, reprinting the
Quartets in his Haydn collected edition, added a dedication to the Grand Duke.
And that explains the remaining nickname of the set - Russian.
The fifth Quartet of the set is what Hans Keller used to call homotonal, that is all
its movements are in the major or minor forms of the same key. In this case the
slow movement is in G minor, all the rest in G major. The first movement starts
with an archetypal Haydn joke: it uses as its opening idea what is really a
closing formula. He manages to integrate it perfectly into the first subject, but
it's there all the time, in the back of our minds; and sure enough, there it is at the
end - except that by now we're so used to its being an opening it's hard to be
sure the movement has really finished.
As if to corroborate Haydn's preoccupation over the previous decade or so, the
Largo cantabile that follows is effectively an operatic aria for the first violin
with the remaining instruments merely accompanying. The Scherzo lies third.
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2
0
St
a
It's a scherzo [-joke] in that it's dropped the grace and refined tread of the
minuet for something sprightlier, with perky cross-rhythms. But, in common
with its fellows from all the other Op.33 Quartets, it's not a scherzo in the
Beethovenian sense of the word: Haydn did write movements of exactly that
kind in his later quartets, but by then he had the confidence not to need the word
"scherzo" to excuse their novelty, and simply called them "minuet".
The finale is cast in variation form: a theme in siciliano rhythm is followed by
three variations and a final Presto coda. It plainly made a great impression on
Mozart, since he unfortunately used variations on a similar theme to close his D
minor Quartet K.421 "unfortunately" because comparison between the two is
not in Haydn's favour.
String Quartet No.1 in C, Op.49
Moderato
Moderato
Allegro molto
Allegro
Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich
(1905 – 1975)
For Shostakovich, 1935 was the last good year before the shadows fell: even
though they occasionally lifted in his later years, they were never far away. His
opera The Lady Macbeth of the Mtensk District had premiered the previous year
and was well on its way to becoming a national and international success: he
was already planning that it would be the first of a cycle of four operas on the
predicament of women. He had just finished a ballet, The Clear Brook, which
premiered in Leningrad that April. In February he took part in a conference on
the Soviet Symphony, announcing a little later in Izvestiya his intention to write
his Fourth Symphony. He began it, but wasn't at all satisfied with the result: he
rejected it and began again. "Since I consider this an exceedingly complex and
responsible task, I wish first to write a few works for chamber groups and solo
instruments. I think this will help me get a proper grip of the symphonic form. I
have already begun a string quartet ..." Quite what became of the quartet is not
entirely clear, but the Fourth Symphony was completed in April 1936. But by
then Shostakovich was already a marked man.
Late in January 1936 he went north, to Archangel'sk- uncomfortably close to
the Arctic Circle at that time of year - to join the cellist Viktor Kubatsky at the
start of a short recital tour which would showcase his recent Cello Sonata. And
there it was, page three of the 28 January edition of Pravda, an unsigned
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editorial article entitled Сумбур вмесmо музы¹ки - "Chaos instead of music." It
was a crude attack on the opera Lady Macbeth, denouncing it as an insult to the
Soviet people and suitable only for the decadent bourgeois foreign audiences. It
was followed barely a week later by a second Pravda editorial, Baremнaя
paльub, savaging The Clear Brook and including the chilling phrase that if
things continued in this way, "it would turn out badly."
Shostakovich was a marked man. Even his friends could do little to help. He
finished the draft of the monumental Fourth Symphony in April and proceeded
to the orchestration. It went into rehearsal that November with the Leningrad
Philharmonic under its German refugee conductor Fritz Stiedry. The rehearsals
were a disaster. It was the height of the Stalinist Terror: no one trusted anyone
else, and even if they did were not stupid enough to show any form of
commitment to a challenging and possibly anti-Soviet work by a composer who
was already under a cloud and might any day be branded an enemy of the people
- as many daily were. I daren't tell you what happened to the theatrical director
Meyerkhold and his actress wife when they made a principled stand - and ten
years earlier Shostakovich had been almost their resident music director.
Shostakovich fought back. He withdrew the Fourth Symphony (it wasn't heard
until 1961, during the Khrushchev thaw) and wrote the Fifth. Given the
seriousness of his position, the new work was the perfect response - a triumph
of ambiguity that, to anyone with half an ear, told the plain truth, but went out
protected by musicological "spin" plausible enough to convince apparatchiks
who knew no better that this was a dutiful work true to the aims and ideals of
Socialist Realism. It worked. It won him a reprieve and partially rehabilitated
him, though it is possible the reprieve would have come anyway: in the complex
international situation of the late 1930s Shostakovich's propaganda value, as one
of the few Soviet composers with an international following, was on a steep
upward curve.
The Fifth Symphony was written at breakneck pace during 1937. It was given
its premiere that November under Yevgeny Mravinsky. The months following
were filled for Shostakovich with performances - the Symphony, of course, but
also the First Piano Concerto and the Cello Sonata. The next substantial piece
Shostakovich wrote was the C major String Quartet that was to prove the first of
his tally of 15. It was composed between 30 May and 17 July 1938, apparently
despite the interruptions of the newest addition to the family, his son Maxim,
born on 10 May.
We tend to associate Shostakovich's quartet cycle with the Beethoven Quartet,
and he did effectively give the premieres of his quartets to them. But that
1
1
(
(
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)
}
tradition only began with the Second Quartet (1944). It was the Glazunov
Quartet who gave the first performance of the First Quartet, on 10 October 1938:
the Beethovens got their chance a few days later. Within six months
Shostakovich had already begun work on the Sixth Symphony.
It's difficult to imagine a more startling contrast to the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth
Symphonies than the First Quartet. Or a work that more belies the conditions
under which it was written. It is a radiant work: "a work of transparent purity
and innocence," "mild, intimate, determinedly unambitious" and "genial and
unconcerned serenity" have all been used to describe it. Shostakovich himself,
in an autobiographical sketch for a December 1940 issue of Moscow's main
evening newspaper, wrote:
I began it with no particular thoughts or feelings, and thought nothing would come of
it. For the quartet is one of the most difficult genres in music. But the work soon took
hold of me completely. It turned out to be, by general admission, jolly, cheerful and
lyrical. I named it the Spring.
The first movement, once you get beyond its opening page, is very much like a
more relaxed cousin of the Scherzo of the Fifth Symphony. The A minor second
movement, unusually, has not only the same tempo marking (Moderato), as the
first but even the same metronome mark (crotchet = 80): it is cast in the form of
variations on the opening tune, played unaccompanied by the viola. The scherzo
that follows is a tiny, feather light affair: all the instruments are muted and the
dynamic never rises above mp. Its slightly eerie character is enhanced by the
remoteness of its key - C sharp minor. The Finale returns to a robust, open C
major, a perfect foil for the clowning Shostakovich has in mind.
Those of you who enjoyed the story in October's programme of Mendelssohn
playing his Piano Trio from memory with Joachim may be interested in an even
more starting story attaching to the present quartet. The players who would later
start their professional career as the Borodin Quartet were at the time advanced
students at the Moscow Conservatory. They were due to play the work at a
Conservatory concert and their teacher had arranged for them to play it through
to the composer first. A nerve-racking enough experience for any performer
Shostakovich was not a comfortable listener. Just before they began he asked if
they had a score with them for him to follow, but they only had the parts they
were playing from. He said it didn't matter, and they played it through to him.
When they'd finished, rather than saying anything about their performance he
said he'd show them, and to the cellist's considerable shock "Dmitry
Dmitriyevich played through the whole work note-perfect without a score and
without even sitting down at the upright piano."
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INTERVAL
Coffee and drinks are available in the foyer. Coffee is 80p a cup: to find us, just
go past the bar, out on to the landing, and turn to the left. Once again, there are
mince pies season's greetings from the Society to our members and visitors:
please help yourself.
String Quartet in C, Op.59 No.3
Andante con moto - Allegro
Andante con moto quasi Allegretto
Minuet: Grazioso -
Finale: Allegro molto
Ludwig van Beethoven
(1770-1827)
Count Aleksey Kirillovich Razumovsky (1752-1832) was a colourful character.
The Razumovsky family had risen to greatness through his grandfather, a
favourite of the Empress Elizabeth, and they remained powerful magnates
throughout the reign of Catherine the Great. Aleksey Kirillovich was an
intimate of Catherine's son, the tsarevich Pavel', whom we've already met.
Unfortunately, he was still more intimate with Pavel's first wife (who died in
1776, giving birth to, rumour had it, Razumovsky's child) and had to be
removed abroad with fiery haste, before the scandal broke.
Eventually, in 1792, Aleksey Kirillovich was made the Russian ambassador in
Vienna, where he was known by the Christian name Andreas. It was an
important posting: Russia and Austria were allies of long standing and were
shortly to be brought even closer by their joint struggle against Napoleon.
In practice, however, Razumovsky was far better at having affairs and spending
money lavishly than at diplomacy. The family had always been patrons of art
and music, at the St Petersburg court as well as in their own palaces, and
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Aleksey 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 a part
of the agreement or a gesture on the composer's part will probably never be
clear. At any rate it applies only 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 Leonora/Fidelio, the Waldstein (Op.53) and
F major (Op.54) Piano Sonatas, Eroica Symphony (Op.55), Triple Concerto
(Op.56), Appassionata 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 accompanied 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 confronting us with some splendid building.
Beethoven usually cast the middle movements of a four-movement work in the
form of a profound slow movement followed by a fast scherzo. Occasionally,
though, the "slow" movement would flow quite quickly, in which case the
scherzo was replaced with the form it had once supplanted - the old-fashioned
minuet with its more stately tempo. Such is the case with Op.59 No.3, the
haunting A minor not-so-slow movement being followed by the graceful minuet
with 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, 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
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FORTHCOMING CONCERTS
The next concert in the 81st Season of the British Music Society of York,
presented in association with the Department of Music at the University, takes
place as usual in the Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall, beginning at 8 pm.
Friday, 11 January 2002
Beethoven
Lennox Berkeley
Debussy
Brahms
Nash Ensemble
Piano Trio in D, Op.70 No.1 (Ghost)
Trio for horn, violin and piano
Cello Sonata
Trio for horn, violin and piano in Eb, Op.40
Another date for your diaries:
Saturday, 15 December 2001
York Minster, 7 pm
York Musical Society & Boyce Chamber Orchestra
Philip Moore conductor
Handel's Messiah
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BRITISH MUSIC SOCIETY
of YORK
OFFICERS OF THE SOCIETY
President Dr Francis Jackson
Vice-Presidents
Chairman
Vice-Chairman
Hon. Treasurer
Hon. Asst. Treasurer
Hon. Secretary
Hon. Publicity Secretary
Hon. Programme Secretary
NFMS Representative
Hon Auditor
Members of the Committee
Jim Briggs, Rosalind Richards
David Mather
John Robinson
Albert Ainsworth
John Petrie
Nigel Dick
Marc Schatzberger
Amanda Crawley
Dr Richard Crossley
Derek Winterbottom
saambia
Sue Bedford, Dr John Dawick, Peter
Marsden, Bob Stevens and Dr Mary Turner
pribl6M
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 gifts to the Society,
many of them covenanted, we could not hope to balance our books.
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Our Benefactors (§) and Patrons are as follows:
Mr A Ainsworth §
Mr RA Bellingham
Dr RJS Crossley
Mr NJ Dick §
Dr FA Jackson
Prof. R Lawton §
Mr GC Morcom §
Mr & Mrs LW Robinson § Mrs IG Sargent
Mr JB Schofield §
Mrs I Stanley §
Mr DA Sutton
Mrs DC Summers §
Mr JI Watson
Mr R Wilkinson §
Making
Music
THE NATIONAL FEDERATION
OF MUSIC SOCIETIES
Mrs PJ Armour
Mr & Mrs DAC Blunt § Mr J Briggs §
Mr J Curry §
Mr CGM Gardner
Mr JC Joslin §
Mr RP Lorriman §
Mrs GO Morcom
Dr DM Bearpark §
Mrs M Danby-Smith §
Mr JA Gloag
Mr N Lange §
If you would like to become a Benefactor or Patron, please get in touch with our
Hon. Treasurer, either at the ticket desk before each concert, or at 8, Petersway,
York, YO30 6AR. All other correspondence about the Society should be
addressed to the Hon. Secretary, 6, Bishopgate St., York, YO23 1JH.
Registered Charity No.700302
Mr & Mrs B Mattinson §
Canon & Mrs JS Pearson
Mr M Schatzberger
Mr RDC Stevens §
Dr & Mrs GMA Turner §
Mrs HB Wright §
The BMS is affiliated to Making Music, the National
Federation of Music Societies, which represents and
supports amateur vocal, instrumental and promoting
societies throughout the United Kingdom.
Society also gratefully acknowledges the assistance
of the Royal Bank of Scotland.
The
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ORTHWICK
BMS 3/2/9 (6)
OF HI
INSTITUTE
TORICAL
RESEARCH