BRITISH MUSIC SOCIETY OF NORTHERN IRELAND onsod 21968-1969 owl Slo 1 FIRST RECITAL tim sum odil under the auspices of pyt Tut AnGL, TEY THE QUEEN'S UNIVERSITY OF BELFAST RUDOLPH BUCHBINDER nuolaid not zien 10 noit iboin ving (onim 1969-1970 PIANOFORTE and line how SIR WILLIAM WHITLA HALL Queen's University, Belfast V PR2 SATURDAY, 12th OCTOBER, 1968 a/745.

SONATA IN E FLAT MAJOR, Op. 31, No. 3 Beethoven The third sonata of Beethoven's Opus 31 has been overshadowed in public esteem by the second, possibly owing to Beethoven's alleged reference to Shakespeare's The Tempest in connection with the latter. At all events, No. 3 has its own special, very different character beautiful, witty, touching, exhilarating, and very difficult to play well. A curiosity is that of the two inner movements the quicker ("scherzo") is in a binary meter while the slower is a minuet and trio. This trio may well be more familiar as the theme on which Saint-Sæns based his variations for two pianos. In the finale Beethoven, building on the tradition of giving pieces in E flat a last movement of a quick, six-eight hunting character (see, for example, Mozart's horn concerti), constructs a wildly galloping movement, not without its witty contrasts, as in the first two movements. 35 SONATA IN A MAJOR Schubert Schubert's "Op. posth. 120" (Deutsch No. 664) is the smaller of his two sonatas in A major and was probably written in 1819, about the same time as the "Trout" quintet. Despite what the books say, Schubert's sonatas are eminently pianistic and enjoyable to play, and this one is no exception. In addition to its melodic charm (frequently of a yearning quality) notice the subtle harmonic effects throughout the piece, in particular the telling, though often gentle, discords. 18 SCHERZO IN B FLAT MINOR Chopin Chopin seems to have taken the normal symphony/sonata scherzo of the early 19th century and used it as a basis for his four independent scherzi, each of which retains the tradition of quick triple time and overall ABA formal plan, the latter greatly modi- fied in complex ways in each case. No. 2 was written in 1837, about the same time as the Funeral March (also in B flat minor) later to be incorporated in a sonata. This scherzo, without depart- ing from the constant quick three-four time, displays most of Chopin's foremost characteristics: Heroic gestures, broad, nostal- gic cantabiles, wide-ranging harmonic schemes, dramatic contrasts, complex sequential developments, brilliant passage work, and one or two delicate arpeggio arabesques. There can be no doubt, on the evidence of such works, that Chopin was the most daring, original and intense composer of a brilliant generation which included Schumann, Liszt, Mendelssohn, Wagner and Verdi. 150 INTERVAL

FANTASY IN C MAJOR, Op. 17 Schumann The wonderful, impassioned opening of the Fantasy leads us to expect a work of high romanticism and we are not disappointed, since it is probably Schumann's finest piano piece, consistently inspired throughout. It was first announced as a forthcoming "Grand Sonata for piano entitled Ruins, Trophies, Palms, of which copies will be sold in aid of the monument" (to Beethoven, erected at Liszt's instigation). Later it became "Three poems, which I shall call Ruins, Triumphal Arches, Starry Brightnesses". It finally appeared in 1839 as a Fantasy, prefaced by a quotation from Schlegel, which may be translated as "Through the number- less sounds which fill the world's gay dream one song, barely heard, calls to the secret listener". Actually, Schumann wrote to Clara, "You will not be able to understand the Fantasy if you cannot transport yourself in spirit to the unhappy summer when I renounced you. The first movement is the most passionate I have ever composed; it is a profound lament on your account". 160 SUITE, POUR LE PIANO Debussy After a gap of ten years in writing piano music, Debussy in 1901 composed his suite, "Pour le Piano", which was to be followed by a succession of masterpieces, all of fundamental importance in 20th century piano music. The titles of the movements suggest that it is an early example of neo-classicism. But the very idea of harking back to a vanished age, in this case the Baroque, is itself redolent of Romanticism. Not that the music sounds as if it could have been written by anyone other than the composer of those well-known pieces with descriptive titles. As always in Debussy, the music is based on a firm grasp of the traditional principles of structure and harmony. MO 136 18 156 160 110 Int val Members are asked to make every effort to avoid coughing during the performance. 834

NEXT CONCERTS: Friday, November 8th, 1968 JOSEF SIVO Violin IVAN EROD Piano Sonata in D major, Op. 12 No. 1 Sonata No. 2 Second Great Sonata in D minor, Op. 121 Friday, January 31st, 1969 THE SMETANA STRING QUARTET Quartet in C major, Op. 33, No. 3 Quartet No. 4 Quartet in F major, Op. 135 Wednesday, February 12th SESTETTO CHIGIANO Saturday, February 22nd The programme will include the Brahms Sextet in B flat major, Op. 18. IAN PARTRIDGE Tenor JENNIFER PARTRIDGE Piano Thursday, April 17th MATTIWILDA DOBBS Soprano MARTIN ISEPP Piano Saturday, May 3rd Beethoven Bartok Schumann ANNIE FISCHER Piano Haydn Martinu Beethoven