BRITISH MUSIC SOCIETY OF NORTHERN IRELAND Price 1970-1971 FIRST RECITAL under the auspices of THE QUEEN'S UNIVERSITY OF BELFAST THE AEOLIAN QUARTET Emanuel Hurwitz (violin) Raymond Keenlyside (violin) Margaret Major (viola) (cello) (cello) Derek Simpson with Terence Weil SIR WILLIAM WHITLA HALL Queen's University, Belfast : SATURDAY, 17TH OCTOBER, 1970 : 1/- PR2

Quartet in E flat, (K.428) Allegro ma non troppo Andante con moto Minuetto: Allegretto Allegro vivace Mozart This is one of the six quartets inspired by Haydn's so-called Russian quartets. It was written in 1783 and dedicated to Haydn. It is very chromatic and contrapuntal, especially in the first two movements. Indeed the first 4-bar statement of the basic theme consists of 9 of the 12 notes of the chromatic scale played in octaves, almost a post-Schoenberg series but firmly rooted in E flat tonality. Later in bar 12 it is repeated, richly harmonized, and after the double bar Mozart casually mentions that it goes in canon at the fifth at 2 bars distance. This casual concealment of art - we are hardly conscious of the resource behind it as we listen together with the same chromatic richness of harmony, hallmarks of Mozart's genius, are heard in the great slow movement. Listen for example to the cello in bars 3 and 4. The Minuet and last movement are comparatively straightforward. EWJB Anton Webern (1883-1945) Quartet, Op.28 Moderate Leisurely Very flowing This quartet, commissioned by an American lady and written in 1938, used a 12 note series derived from the notes BACH (= B flat, A, C, B natural). These 4 notes, a kind of study in semitones, transposed and inverted, give the whole series thus G, F sharp, A, G sharp/C, D flat, B flat, B natural/E flat, D, F, E natural (3 x 4 = 12).

Lest we should find it too obvious, these notes are, in the first six bars, spread over nearly 4 octaves and the melodies are shaped through- out the quartet so as to show Webern's fondness for spiky lines which jump up and down, making much use of sevenths and ninths (which are only other ways of looking at the semitones of the basic theme). The quartet is full of double canons and things. contrapuntal. These are not easy to follow at first hearing. Let's be honest, even in the score they have to be searched for like fleas on a dog's back. But few of us are conscious of all the technical devices when we enjoy Bach or Mozart or Brahms, and it is really more advisable not to worry about them, at least until we are familiar with the sounds. The writing is restrained in style and the move- ments are short (they last about 2 minutes each). The second is the most straightforward for the listener, being a kind of delicate pizzicato quick march, with a gentle middle. section in 3/8 time and a tiny little gallop of a coda. The third movement is the most involved. with many time changes, and one pathetic moment where the BACH theme is heard in that shape (F, E, G, F sharp) on the cello. INTERVAL Quintet in C, Op.163 (D.956) Allegro ma non troppo Adagio Scherzo. Presto/Andante sostenuto Allegretto EWJB Schubert Benjamin Britten has suggested that the most productive 18 months in the history of western music was the period 1827/8 when, paradoxically, Beethoven had finished and Wagner, Verdi and Brahms not yet begun. The reference is, of course, to Schubert's astonishing final outburst:

'Winterreise', the 'Schwanengesang', and many individual songs; the last three piano sonatas and four impromptus; the E flat piano trio and F minor Fantasie for piano duet; the Great C major symphony - and this string quintet. The quintet is a masterpiece. Even the severer 'organ loft' critics allow it a certain distinct- ion, but they are worried by repetition and an alleged lack of invention, particularly in the last movement. To the true Schubertian all this is blasphemy. The argument cannot be pursued here but is well summarised in Professor Westrup's recent little BBC handbook. Since a short prog- ramme note cannot possibly do justice to so diverse and unprecedented a work, we draw the listener's attention to two points. Instead of Mozart's two violas Schubert revives Boccherini's practice of adding an extra cello to the string quartet. This enables him to employ a deep rich bass (e.g. the opening of the Scherzo) or to give one cello a high melody (e.g. slow movement, bars 30 to 60 shared with the first violin). Another feature is the abundant evidence of a new profun- dity in Schubert's last period. An obvious example is the trio section of the third move- ment. Here, instead of the 3/4 lightheartedness of the Trout', or even 'Death and the Maiden', we have a sudden change to 4/4 and a mood of elegaic nobility. Let the last word rest with Alfred Einstein: 'Schubert could surpass his C major Symphony only by this unique, unsurpas- sable work'. NEXT CONCERT: Thursday, 5th November 1970 RALPH KIRSHBAUM (cello) ERNEST LUSH (piano) Sonata in A major, Op.69 Fantasiestücke, Op.73 CE Beethoven Schumann Debussy Sonata Sonata for unaccompanied cello (1923) Hindemith Sonata Shostakovich