BRITISH MUSIC SOCIETY OF NORTHERN IRELAND 1968-1969 THIRD RECITAL under the auspices of THE QUEEN'S UNIVERSITY OF BELFAST THE SMETANA STRING QUARTET Jiri Novak (violin) Lubomir Kostecky (violin) Milan Skampa (viola) Antonin Kohout (cello) SIR WILLIAM WHITLA HALL Queen's University, Belfast FRIDAY, 31st JANUARY, 1969 at 7.45 p.m.

Programme notes by Evan John QUARTET IN C MAJOR, Op. 33, No. 3 Allegro Scherzando Allegretto Adagio Rondo Presto "Six brand-new quartets, written in an entirely new and special manner, for I have not composed any for ten years." Thus did Haydn describe the works published in 1782 as Op. 33. The "new and special manner", if not merely an advertising phrase, possibly refers to a high degree of concentration in the working-out of small melodic units throughout the four-part texture - not that the "Sun" quartets (Op. 20) of ten years earlier are lacking in this. Op. 33 is sometimes known as the "Russian Quartets", from the dedication to the Grand Duke Paul of Russia, sometimes as "Gli Scherzi", since all the "minuets" have "Scherzando" or similar directions. The second movement of tonight's quartet is actually nearer in tempo to a minuet than the fast Beethoven type of scherzo. The trio section of this movement, with its twittering trills, gives the quartet its nickname of "the Bird", and the combined playfulness and mellowness of trio and minuet are characteristic of the whole work. The subtle rhythmic organization of the opening of the first movement, not forgetting the preliminary bar of repeated chords, is typical of Haydn and is matched in the elaborate fioriture of the first violin's prominent part in the slow movement. A strange textual problem regarding the first chords of the final rondo cannot be discussed here; it disappears when the movement is played, as it often is, in a modern arrangement for amateur string orchestras. QUARTET No. 4 Haydn Allegro poco moderato Allegretto Scherzando Adagio Allegro Martinu The Czech composer Bohuslav Martinu (1890-1959) was excep- tionally prolific, almost in the Haydn class in this respect. A large output is usually a sign, as in Martinu's case, of a non-doctrinaire, un-neurotic approach to composition. He lived in Paris from 1923 to 1940, and it was during this period that this quartet was written. Although composed in 1937 it did not have a public performance until 1960. INTERVAL

QUARTET IN F MAJOR, Op. 135 Allegretto Vivace Lento assai, cantante e tranquillo Grave, ma non troppo tratto - Allegro Beethoven This quartet, one of the great series of five written in 1824-6, was Beethoven's last completed composition except for the alternative finale to the B flat quartet. Unlike some of the others in the group this work is in the standard four movements, the scherzo being second. The questioning opening motifs are answered by music of a generally light, though complex, texture. This lightness tends to persist in the three quick movements but must not lead us to regard this quartet as being in any way inferior to its companions. Rather should it lead the spirit upwards. The swift second movement, with its characteristic synco- pations, has a remarkable rising key-scheme in its trio section - F major, G major, A major - a procedure rare or unsuccessful in other composers. The third movement makes use of one of those slow, ostensibly simple but deeply moving melodies, usually in some kind of ternary metre, that occur frequently in Beethoven's late works. In this case the theme is very short and is immediately followed by a variant, the whole constituting a brief first section. After a brief contrasting section which could be construed perhaps as a free minor-key variation, the first section reappears subjected to further variation. The finale has the title "The Difficult Resolution", followed by three musical motifs, settings of the words "Must it be? It must be. It must be," the answers being the question turned approximately upside down. The question forms the basis of the slow introduction, a passage similar to which occurs near the end, and the answer is the opening theme of the main allegro. The story is that the words are associated with the payment of a laundry bill, though whether the music or the laundry bill came first is not clear. At events, triviality is completely absent, even though the principal "second group" theme, first heard in the remote key of A major but finally appearing in the home key in a hushed, highish pizzicato, is of an almost nursery-rhyme simplicity. Members are asked to make every effort to avoid coughing during the performance

NEXT CONCERTS: Wednesday, February 12th SESTETTO CHIGIANO The programme will include the Brahms Sextet in B flat major, Op. 18. Saturday, February 22nd IAN PARTRIDGE Tenor JENNIFER PARTRIDGE Piano Thursday, April 17th MATTIWILDA DOBBS Soprano MARTIN ISEPP Piano Saturday, May 3rd ANNIE FISCHER Piano