BRITISH MUSIC SOCIETY OF NORTHERN IRELAND 1966-1967 FIRST RECITAL under the auspices of THE QUEEN'S UNIVERSITY OF BELFAST TAMAS VASARY Pianoforte SIR WILLIAM WHITLA HALL Queen's University, Belfast MONDAY, 17th OCTOBER, 1966 at 7.45 p.m.

Sonata in B flat, K 333 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) Allegro Andante cantabile Allegretto grazioso This is the last of a group of four sonatas written in Paris in 1778. Mozart had met Johann Christian Bach there and had probably been shown some of the sonatas that Bach had just written for the pianoforte, full of point and slickness and showing new ways of writing for the instrument. Mozart was affected by them, but, being by now a mature musician, he transmuted the surface brightness of Bach into something charming and gracious and personally felt. Though Mozart's greatest writing for the pianoforte was reserved for his concertos, these are four fine works and it is a pity that the popularity of that in F, K 332, has distracted attention from the work to be heard tonight. Sonata in A major, Op 101 Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) Allegretto ma non troppo Vivace, alla marcia Adagio ma non troppo, con affetto Allegro This sonata, written in 1816, like Op 106 in B flat major, was called by Beethoven a Hammerklavier sonata, though the name has stuck, as by prescriptive right, only to the latter work. The title had nothing whatever to do, as some people imagine, with any par- ticularly percussive approach to writing for the piano; it was merely an attempt to find a genuine German word to substitute for the Italian pianoforte. A klavier was any kind of keyboard instrument, a hammerklavier was one in which the keys were struck by hammer action, not plucked as in a harpsichord. He also patriotically pro- vided the movements with alternative German titles. The first movement he described as "somewhat lively, and with the most heartfelt expression". In effect it is peaceful and lovely, in sonata form, with the transitions from part to part carefully moulded and integrated so that they are scarcely perceptible. The march is aggressive and revolutionary in feeling, an excellent example of what was called his habit of "tearing handfuls of notes out of the instrument and hurling them at the listener". The adagio is little more than an introduction to the final allegro, another outburst of defiance in full sonata form, but dominated by his effort to express it all in polyphonic shape. INTERVAL

Six Preludes Claude-Achille Debussy (1862-1918) La terrace des audiences au clair de lune Ce qu'a vu le vent d'ouest Ondine La danse de Puck La Puerta del vino Feux d'artifice (Debussy wrote two books of Preludes, Bk I in 1909-10, Bk II in 1910-13). The Terrace of Audiences in moonlight (Bk II) recalls moonlight seen in an imaginary India, inspired by contemporary French de- scriptions of the 1912 Durbar. The title is a quotation from a novel by Pierre Loti. What the west wind saw (Bk I). A brilliant kaleidoscope of short motifs, representing the instability of the elements. Ondine (Bk II). Ondine, the water-nymph, sings her seductive song with its wayward changes of mood. Puck's dance (Bk I). A high- irited evocation of Shakespeare's Puck. La Puerta del vino (Bk II). Inspired by a postcard from Manuel de Falla of this famous gate at Grenada. It is in Habañera rhythm. Fireworks (Bk II). An evocation of a fireworks display on 14th July, with the Marseillaise heard at the end. Franz Liszt (1811-1886) Six studies based on Paganini's Capricci were written in 1838 and revised in 1851. Paganini had shattered musical Europe by his dazzling technique, the like of which had never been displayed hitherto by any violinist. In these studies Liszt tries to transfer some of these technical feats to the keyboard, so successfully that on their appearance Schumann declared them unplayable. This is a study in octaves. Three pieces Grande étude de Paganini in E flat Consolation in E The six Consolations were written in 1849-50. They are free from the fearsome technical difficulties of most of Liszt's writing and are really chants sans paroles. Hungarian Rhapsody in A minor, no 15 The Hungarian rhapsodies were published in 1852. The Rákóczy March, which forms the basis of this one, was composed by a gypsy violinist János Bihari in 1809. Rákóczy was an Hungarian revolutionary of the early 18th century. The march is well known from Berlioz's orchestration of it.

NEXT CONCERTS: MONDAY, OCTOBER 24TH Schubert Schumann Brahms Wolf Grieg Sibelius BIRGIT FINELLA, Contralto NINA WALKER, Pianoforte Haydn Mozart Brahms Fahrt zum Hades, D 526; Ganymed, D 544; Gretchen am Spinnrade, D 118; Rastlose Liebe, D 138. Frauenliebe und Leben, Op 42. Von ewiger Liebe; Sonntag: Der Tod das ist die kühle Nacht; Ständchen. Haydn Beethoven Schubert Das verlassen Mägdlein; Du denkst mit einem Fädchen; Verborgenheit; In dem Schatten meiner Locken. N.B. There are some changes in the Brahms, Wolf and Grieg groups from the songs announced in the brochure. Med en Primulaveris; Med en Vandlilje. Den första Kyssen; Demanten; Svarta Rosor. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 7TH THE ALLEGRI STRING QUARTET Quartet in D major, Op 55 no 1. Quartet in D minor, K 421. Quartet in C minor, Op 51 no 1. MONDAY, FEBRUARY 6TH, 1967 JOHN SHIRLEY-QUIRK, Bass-baritone MARTIN ISEPP, Pianoforte Four canzonets. An die ferne Geliebte, Op 98. Des Sängers Habe, D 832; An die Leier, D 737; An den Mond, D 296; Wilkommen und Abschied, D 767. Vaughan Williams Songs of travel. Ravel Don Quichotte à Dulcinée.