BRITISH MUSIC SOCIETY OF NORTHERN IRELAND 1964-1965 FOURTH RECITAL under the auspices of THE QUEEN'S UNIVERSITY OF BELFAST The Warsaw Piano Quintet BRONISLAW GIMPEL TADEUSZ WRONSKI STEFAN KAMASA Violin Violin Viola ALEKSANDER CIECHANSKI Violoncello WLADYSLAW SZPILMAN Pianoforte SIR WILLIAM WHITLA HALL Queen's University, Belfast THURSDAY, 4th FEBRUARY, 1965 at 7.45 p.m.

Quintet, Op 57 Prelude: Lento poco piu mosso Fugue: Adagio Scherzo: Allegretto Intermezzo: Lento Dimitri Shostakovich (1906- ) Finale: Allegretto This work was composed in 1941 and won a Stalin prize of 100,000 roubles. Shostakovich had been in trouble with the authorities for not writing music acceptable to the people, but in this work he achieved a masterpiece that appeals to everybody. It is generally regarded as a major addition to the chamber music repertoire, and is looked on by some as the composer's masterpiece. The great quintets of Schumann and Dvorak had given the impression that the form was neither one thing nor the other, that all the time it felt the tug to become a not very successful piano concerto in which the strings tended to become subordinate to the keyboard. But Schubert in the Trout quintet (though with a different com- bination of strings) and César Franck had shown the way to write true chamber music in the form. The freedom with which Shosta- kovich makes use of different combinations of the five instruments is of the greatest interest. It may be because Russian music missed the great disciplines of the 17th and 18th centuries that both he and Prokofieff have gone back to the composers of these ages for inspiration. The interest of this work is predominantly contrapuntal and is a tribute to Johann Sebastian Bach. The opening movement in G minor is in the 18th century style of French overture, slow-quick-slow, the pianoforte writing of the middle section being quite unmistakably Bach-like. The second movement, which follows straight on, is a fugue, scrupul- ously observing the conventions; the middle section begins with piano, the final section with strings alone. The Scherzo is a ro- bust piece that calls on the whole ensemble all the time. The Inter- mezzo is a restrained lament. There is much to be said for the view that the finale is a concession to the demand for something really popular; it is less concise than its predecessors, and is in full sonata form. Quintet in F minor INTERVAL Molto moderato quasi allegro Lento con molto sentimento César Franck (1882-1890) Allegro non troppo con fuoco This work was written in 1879, and like all Franck's output after 1863 lacks an opus number. Within a limited range it is a deeply passionate work, dealing sensuously, but without sentiment- ality, with most intimate emotions. It has been suggested that it

may spring from his admiration for an Irish poetess and composer, Augusta Holmes. It would seem highly unlikely that this modest organist and music-teacher of exemplary life could write anything that would shock the flamboyant Liszt, but this quintet did. Saint- Saens, who played in the first performance, was so offended by what he considered its erotic tone that he walked off the platform at the end, ostentatiously leaving the presentation copy that had been publicly offered him on the piano. The work, however, still bears a dedication to him. It is in cyclic form; that is to say that the main theme of the first movement is heard in both the other movements, and what Franck called its cousins recur throughout the work, giving it a splendid unity. Next Concert . . . Friday, February 19th : IGOR OISTRAKH Violin VSEVOLOD PETRUSHANSKY Pianoforte Sonata No. 1 in A minor Sonata No. 10 in G major, Op 96 Sonatensatz Chaconne Five melodies Italian suite Friday, March 5th: VLADIMIR ASHKENAZY Sonata in D minor, Op 31 No. 2 (The Tempest) Sonata No. 5 in A major, Op 120 Gaspard de la nuit Pavane pour une Infante défunte Sonata No. 5, Op 53 (one continuous movement) Schumann Beethoven Brahms Bach Prokofieff Stravinsky Beethoven Schubert Ravel Ravel Scriabin

Thursday, March 18th: 2500 An die Hoffnung; Gellertlieder Roncevals LOTHAR OSTENBURG Baritone GUNTHER WEISSENBORN Pianoforte An Silvia; Das Rosenband; Der musensohn Ausgewählte Lieder aus "Magelone" Keinen hat es noch gereut; Sind es Schmerzen, sind es Freuden; Se willst du des Armen; Ruhe, Sussliebchen, im Schatten; Wie froh und Frisch mein Sinn sich hebt; Treue Liebe dauert lange Befreit; Ich trage meine Minne; Nachtgang; All mein Gedanken; Wie sollten wir geheim sie halten. PART I CITY OF BELFAST ORCHESTRA ULSTER HALL, 12TH FEBRUARY, 1965, AT 8 P.M. PART II Guest Conductor: SIR ARTHUR BLISS Master of the Queen's Music MARGARET JOHNSTON (Contralto) SET OF ACT TUNES AND DANCES THE ENCHANTRESS SUITE FROM THE BALLET CHECKMATE Beethoven Dallapiccola Schubert Brahms Conductor: MAURICE MILES SIEGFRIED IDYLL SYMPHONY No. 5 in C minor Strauss Purcell-Bliss Bliss Bliss Wagner Beethoven TICKETS 8/6, 6/6, 5/- and 3/6 obtainable at JAMES PARR (MUSIC) LTD., 56/58 Upper Queen Street, Belfast, 1