BRITISH MUSIC SOCIETY OF NORTHERN IRELAND 1966 1967 FIFTH RECITAL under the auspices of THE QUEEN'S UNIVERSITY OF BELFAST The Cremona String Quartette Violin Violin Viola Violoncello HUGH MAGUIRE TERENCE CONNAH CECIL ARONOWITZ TERENCE WEIL SIR WILLIAM WHITLA HALL Queen's University, Belfast THURSDAY, 19th JANUARY, 1967 at 7.45 p.m.

Quartet in C major, Op 74 no 1 Allegro moderato Adantino grazioso Menuetto: Allegretto Vivace Haydn wrote six quartets in 1793 and published them in two sets of three quartets each, Op 71 and 74, all of them dedicated to Count Apponyi. In these quarters he seems to have half toyed with the idea of introducing each of the first movements with a slow introduction, as he had done in many of his symphonies, and in Op 71, no 2 there is actually a four bar introduction. The others, however, had to content themselves with one preliminary chord. It is difficult to imagine why what suited Haydn in his symphonies should have made so little appeal to him in the quartet. Mozart and Beethoven occasionally flirt with the same idea, but do not indulge in it often. The quartets of this year are strongly sym- phonic in character and seem to be trying to break the bounds of the form as Haydn had hitherto practised it. Quartet no 3, Op 73 Allegretto Moderato con moto Joseph Haydn (1732-1809) Allegro non troppo Adagio Moderato Dmitri Shostakovich (1906- ) Shostakovich wrote this quartet in 1946, shortly after his ninth symphony. Those who seek information on this work in Rabino- vich's book on the composer will find that critic astonished to learn that he had taken as much as three months to compose it; once Shostakovich has made up his mind, it would seem that he is a very quick worker indeed. He had been in trouble with the Soviet authorities before, and he was to be so again, but it may be left to the idealogues to assess the value of the statements "that in the quartet there is none of the exposure-pamphlet type of

music that is the chief feature of the Ninth Symphony"; or that "from the scherzo onward the logic of colour juxtaposition switches the dramaturgy of the quartet back to the Eighth Symphony". Naïver minds of the Western world will be well-advised to listen simply to a very fine quartet, which, after the gay but somewhat acetic first movement, moves through some kind of deeply personal sorrow, culminating in the fourth movement. This is not quite dispelled by the lilting motion of the last movement which winds up on a long-drawn out note on the cello punctuated by three quiet pizzicato chords on the violin. INTERVAL Quartet in F major, Op 59 no 1 Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) Allegro Allegretto vivace e sempre scherzando Adagio nolto e mesto - Allegro - Thème russe The three quarters of Op 59 were written in 1806, at the height of Beethoven's great middle period, and dedicated to the Russian diplomat, Count Razumovsky, in obedience to whose request a Russian folk-tune is introduced in the last movement. Little as we may see to object to in this work, it was rejected by the first people who sat down to play it; they apparently considered it either nonsense or a deliberate practical joke. Their frame of mind may be deciphered by listening to the opening bars; the opening theme is given out on the cello and, instead of the expected har- monic fill-up from the other instruments, a strong rhythmic figure is beaten out paying no regard to any expected harmonic obligations. Even by a strong flight of imagination it is impossible for us to feel any discomfort at this, but it took European ears a very long time to get used to such innovations. The violins are by Nicolo Amati, 1653 and 1665 respectively. The viola is an anonymous Cremonese instrument. The cello is by Antonio and Hieronymus Amati, 1614.

NEXT CONCERTS: Monday, February 6th Haydn Beethoven Schubert Four canzonets. An die ferne Geliebte, Op 98. Des Sängers Habe, D832; An die Leier, D737; An den Mond, D296; Wilkommen und Abschied, D767. Vaughan Williams Songs of travel. Ravel Don Quichotte à Dulcinée. JOHN SHIRLEY-QUIRK, Bass-baritone MARTIN ISEPP, Pianoforte Monday, February 13th Debussy Ravel CHRISTIAN FERRAS, Violin JEAN-CLAUDE AMBROSINI, Pianoforte Beethoven Serge Nigg Thursday, February 23rd J. S. Bach Handel Nadermann Mozart Godefroid Fauré Cabezon Ferrandière M. Albeniz Beethoven Pierné J. Guridi Sonato in F major, Op 24 (Spring) Sonata for unaccompanied violin (First British performance) Sonata in G minor Pièce en forme de Habañera Tzigane Albeniz G. Walters G. Salzedo MARISA ROBLES, Harp Two preludes Variations Sonatina Variations and Rondo Pastorale Concert study Impromptu Pavanne and variations Dance of the dwarfs Sonata Variations on a Swiss air Impromptu caprice Three Basque melodies Viejo Zorziko Malagueña Little suite Song in the night