BRITISH MUSIC SOCIETY OF NORTHERN IRELAND 1952 1953 THIRD RECITAL under the auspices of THE QUEEN'S UNIVERSITY OF BELFAST WILHELM KEMPFF The Sir William Whitla Hall Queen's University, Belfast FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5th 1952

ITALIAN CONCERTO TWO CHORALS I Allegro Andante Presto SONATA IN C MAJOR J. S. Bach (1685-1750.) Befiehl du deine Wege Nun freut euch lieben Christen g'mein LE CARILLON DE L'ILE DE CYTHERE II J. S. Bach (1685-1750.) François Couperin (1688-1733.) Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757.) SONATA IN A FLAT MAJOR, OP. 110 Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827.) Moderato cantabile, molto expressivo Molto Allegro Recitativo e Arioso dolente (Adagio ma non troppo) Fuga-Arioso-Fuga The later pianoforte sonatas of Beethoven have given rise to much speculation on their meaning, but "others abide our question, thou art free." Are we to look on this calm and lyrical work as the equivalent of Shakespeare's Tempest, as some kind of haven of reconciliation after a life of stress? For all its intimacy it does suggest, however, that the storms were not forgotten. Wilhelm Kempff is one of the few contemporary pianists whose interpretations of these last sonatas cannot be left out of consideration in any attempt to assess their

significance. Members will recall his masterly playing of Op. 111 last year. The first theme of the first movement, a graceful phrase, is marked con amabilità, the second theme is a three-fold phrase. The second movement is a rather grim scherzo in duple time. In the third movement, after a recitativo comes a poignant song of sorrow, Arioso dolente; then the fugue of the fourth move- ment steals forth (it has affinities with the opening subject of the first movement), the movement being a kind of combination of fugue and rondo, the fugal influence being the greater. INTERVAL D Minor D. Major B Minor B Major III FOUR BALLADES, OP. 10 (Edward) Johannes Brahms (1833-1897.) The first of these Ballades is inspired by a translation of the old Scots ballad "Why does your brand sae drop wi' blude, Edward, Edward?" We can hear in the music Edward's evasive answers, the final confession of guilt and his denunciation. of the mother and his remorse and despair. The narrative inspiration of the other three (there seems to be some definite programme) is unknown. The second begins and ends serenely, with a very attractive staccato passage in the allegro section. The third is of a type different from the others and was entitled by Brahms Intermezzo; it calls for extreme lightness of touch and delicacy of fingering. The fourth, in the opinion of some judges inferior to the others, breathes a vague and austere atmosphere of beauty.

IV ETUDES SYMPHONIQUES, OP. 13 Robert Schumann (1810-1856.) The Etudes Symphoniques are a series of variations on a theme by the Baron von Fricken-or nearly so, for Schumann, remarking that His Lordship's tune was already rather like a variation itself, altered it somewhat! The idea of the variation. here expounded has moved forward considerably from the 18th century conception: in some of the variations in this work the original theme is hard enough to find. The work is one of Schumann's masterpieces and calls for the most outstanding technique on the part of the player. In the finale, a triumphant march, as a compliment to the English composer, Sterndale Bennett, to whom the work is dedicated, he quotes a song from Marschner's Der Templer und die Jüden that makes reference to England. January 23rd THE F. W. LEONARD MEMORIAL CONCERT The Melos Ensemble will play the Octets of Schubert and Howard Ferguson