THE BRITISH MUSIC SOCIETY OF NORTHERN IRELAND in association with The Arts Council of Northern Ireland. and The Music Department, Queen's University NEW 1977-78 SEASON THIRD RECITAL HUNGARIAN QUARTET Andor Toth (violin) Richard Young (violin) Denes Koromzay (viola) Andrew Toth jr. (cello) Tuesday 24 January 1978 at 7.30 p.m. Elmwood Hall, Queen's University

2 String Quartet in D major (K499) Allegretto - Menuetto: Allegro Mozart (1756-91) me Adagio - Allegro This work is one of the so-called 'ten celebrated quartets that represent Mozart's maturity as a quartet composer. First come the set of six quartets dedicated to Haydn, in which he acknowledged his indebtedness to the older composer; then there is this work composed in 1786 for his friend, the publisher Hoffmeister; and finally there are the three 'Prussian' quartets dedicated to the King of Prussia. Then The supreme elegance of manner and technique which distinguishes these works is well illustrated in the opening bars of the first movement. The almost casual opening phrase is first heard in octaves, and then radiates warmth as harmonies are added. it is elaborated in dialogue fashion by pairs of instruments, and when it returns a few moments later there is the added subtlety that it is played in canon by the first violin and cello a learned device, but executed with such ease that it seems the most natural thing in the world. The Minuet is enriched by chromatic touches in the harmonies, and also by another hallmark of the mature Mozart - a flexibility of phrasing which at times runs counter to the regular bar lines. After the profound Adagio the Allegro finale has Haydn- esque qualities, with rhetorical silences and pauses.

String Quartet (op 11) Molto allegro e appassionato Molto adagio - Molto allegro (come prima) Samuel Barber is one of the leading repre- sentatives of what one might call the conservative' school of American composers. That is to say, his music is rooted in the European post-romantic tradition, harmonically restrained, still mainly founded on tonality, and traditional with regard to form. No trace here of the influence of serialism, or of any urge to widen fundamentally the boundaries of music. Samuel Barber (b1910) These traits are well illustrated in this. string quartet, composed in 1936. Based in B minor, it is in a rounded three-movement form, the central Adagio of which has become famous in an arrangement for string orchestra. This leads directly into the short finale, which repeats material from the first movement. INTERVAL String Quartet in A minor (op 132) Beethoven (1797-1827) Assai sostenuto: Allegro - Allegro ma non tanto - Molto Adagio - Alla Marcia, assai vivace - Allegro appassionato Of Beethoven's late quartets (composed 1824-6) the A minor has five movements, the B major six, and the C# minor seven. This progressive stepping- up of the number of movements is symptomatic of Beethoven's rethinking of musical structure in his late works, and this tendency to fragment the music is also found within the individual movements where

4 This he juxtapcses sections of contrasting mood, tempo and key. On the other hand, this tendency to fragment and contrast is offset by a new unity created by the presence of a single thematic idea running through the music. idea is found in all three quartets (as well as in the 'Grosse Fuge, which was originally intended as the finale to the B quartet) and the sketchbooks show how inextricably bound up these works were in his mind. This motif is heard at the beginning of the A minor quartet, and metamorphoses of it can be traced in many parts of the music. It is clearly present in the theme of the long third movement, headed Song of thanksgiving on recovering from an illness, in the Lydian mode'. This high-developed concept of form, together with the originality of the musical ideas and texture, all contribute to the visionary quality of the music of Beethoven's last years. NEXT CONCERT February, Saturday 4 XXXXXX 7.30 p.m. Elmwood Hall BENJAMIN LUXON (baritone) DAVID WILLISON (piano)