BRITISH MUSIC SOCIETY OF NORTHERN IRELAND 1963 1964 FIFTH RECITAL under the auspices of THE QUEEN'S UNIVERSITY OF BELFAST GASPAR CASSADO, Violoncello CHIEKO CASSADO, Pianoforte SIR WILLIAM WHITLA HALL Queen's University, Belfast THURSDAY, 23rd JANUARY, 1964 at 7.45 p.m.

Girolamo Frescobaldi (1583-1643) Frescobaldi was one of the outstanding organists of all time. He held an appointment at Antwerp, and was then appointed to St. Peter's, Rome. He was there dissatisfied with his salary, a state of affairs he endured for twenty years, when he went to Florence. Civic dissension drove him thence six years later, and he was re- appointed to Rome. Like most practising musicians of his day he was also a copious composer. Toccata Seven variations on Mozart's "Bei Männern" This lovely work is founded on the air of a duet from the Magic Flute. It was written in 1801, but in the erratic process of giving opus numbers to Beethoven's works, it never acquired one. Sonata in F major, Op 99 Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) Allegro vivace Adagio affetuoso Allegro passionato Allegro molto Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) Written in 1887, this sonata disturbed contemporary listeners because of what they considered unorthodoxies in key relationship. In fact parallels to what they complained about could be found in Haydn, but Brahms brought them uncompromisingly to the fore. To our ears they merely sound appropriate to the great sense of vigour and stress permeates the work. It has little of the lyrical ease of the violin and piano sonatas. The first movement contains some interesting experiments in tremolo for both instru- ments. Listeners can judge for themselves whether the slow move- ment is to be classed as supremely lovely music, or, in the words of a contemporary critic, "a dangerous and radical innovation"- just because it was in the unexpected key of F sharp. The third

movement is characterized by a perpetual quaver motion, its ex- treme freedom of transient modulation and its cross rhythms within the bar. The last is genial and boisterous. INTERVAL Suite No. 5 in C. minor for solo 'cello Prelude Fugue Allemande Courante Gavottes I and II Gigue Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) About 1720 Bach wrote two sets of six suites each for un- accompanied violin and cello respectively. Previously much of the harmonization of music had been left to the performer and Bach is known to have been concerned with the problem of establishing his own harmonic intentions definitely without leaving it to the player. These sonatas were written when he had this problem in mind. The polyphonic demands he makes on the player of a stringed instrument are staggering and make these works among the supreme tests of a player's technique. The suite of dance forms was the usual practice for all instrumental music. Rhapsodie No. 1 Bartók Béla (1881-1945) Bartók wrote two rhapsodies in 1928. The first exists in three versions, for violin and piano, for cello and piano and for violin and orchestra. It is really a brilliant cello solo with accompaniment. It is in the form of a Csardas, the first, slow, movement being the lassu, the second, lively, the friss.

Next Concerts Thursday, February 27: MAX ROSTAL (Violin) and COLIN HORSLEY (Pianoforte) Sonata in B flat, K 454 Sonatina Sonata Sonata in A major, Op 47 (Kreutzer) Thursday, March 5: Mozart Lennox Berkeley Debussy Beethoven AEOLIAN STRING QUARTET Quartet in B flat major Quartet No. 5 Quartet in F major, Op 135 (Posthumous) Mozart Bartok Beethoven