BRITISH MUSIC SOCIETY OF NORTHERN IRELAND 1954 1955 SEVENTH RECITAL under the auspices of THE QUEEN'S UNIVERSITY OF BELFAST BELA SIKI Pianoforte The Sir William Whitla Hall Queen's University, Belfast FRIDAY, MARCH, 18th 1955

SONATA IN B FLAT MAJOR, K.333 Allegro Andante Cantabile M Allegretto Grazioso W. A. Mozart (1756-1791) This sonata, one of four in the same key, was written in 1779. Mozart's real greatness is not to be sought for in his pianoforte sonatas; but, though they are in a way routine work by comparison with his fundamental innovations in his concertos for the same instrument, Mozart's routine work at its best is exceedingly good. This sonata is one of the best of the score or so that he wrote; its melodic inventiveness and grace are entrancing, and it presents no formal problems for the listener SONATA IN C MINOR, OP. 111 Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) Maestoso: Allegro con brio ed appassionata Arietta: Adagio molto semplice e cantabile Mozart's sonata was written when the pianoforte had scarcely yet established itself as the keyboard instrument par excellence. This work of Beethoven, written in 1822, is the last of his pianoforte sonatas, but not his last important work for the instrument; the Diabelli Variations were to follow. In it he confines himself to two movements, which he did in others of his late works. In the first movement he succeeds in doing what he had attempted several times before without achieving

final success, fusing the first movement sonata form with the fugal form. The result is a profound sense of striving, ferocity and will. The second movement is a sublime arietta, tranquil, serene, and transcendental, which becomes the subject of six variations, subtly moulded together. The technical resources necessary to the playing of this work are fearsome; they must be matched by an equal quality of mind. FOUR BALLADES INTERVAL Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849) No. 1 in G minor, Op. 23 (1836) No. 2 in F major, Op. 38 (1840) No. 3 in A flat major, Op. 47 (1841) No. 4 in F minor, Op. 52 (1842) The Ballade form is hard to define; it supposedly origin- ated in an attempt to express in instrumental music the narrative qualities of the traditional ballads. Chopin is said to have been inspired by the poetry of his compatriot Mickiewicz, but, though he actually named poems as the inspiration of certain of these works, all attempts to assign specific narrative qualities to each of these Ballades have failed. They have it in common that they are in 6/4 or 6/8 time; it is really impossible to find in them much else that is common, except the freedom with which he used the form. There is, of course, every- where the romantic spirit of the composer, and the demands on the technique and interpretative powers of the performer take them quite out of the range of the ordinary amateur.