BRITISH MUSIC SOCIETY OF NORTHERN IRELAND bigtin in association with The Department of Music, Queen's University and The Arts Council of Northern Ireland olbat boa Jussoo ak begagne, od 2014 Toustong osped ad eoy anivoflol-ad7 sisu to galio) nose ARE IL bied od FIRST RECITAL asathaT to vrst ROY HOLMES (Piano) Harty Room 23 September 1978, 8.30 p.m.

KLEINE SONATE in A minor op 20 (1930) Walter Bricht (1904-70) Walter Bricht was born in Vienna in 1904. His mother was a well known singer, a friend of Brahms and Wolf; his father a distinguished music critic. He studied composition (with the illustrious Viennese composer, Franz Schmidt), conducting, piano and organ at the Academy for music, Vienna, from where he graduated with high honours in 1928. Professor of counterpoint, composition, form and piano at the Volkskonservatorium and Horak Schulen as well as private teacher, Walter Bricht was sought after as solo pianist, chamber musician and instrumental conductor, having accompanied many of the musical giants of this century. Emigrating to the United States in 1938 after Hitler's annexation of Austria, he engaged in concert and radio work in New York. The following year he became professor of piano and later director of the Mason College of Music in Charleston, West Virginia, a post he held until 1944, when he returned to New York as a free-lance teacher and performer. In 1963 he joined the faculty of Indiana University in Bloomington, where he remained until his untimely death in 1970. During this period he produced a final trilogy of compositions: Sonata for Flute and Piano (1965), Chaconne for String Quartet (1967), and Trio for Flute, Cello and Piano (1968). In giving the op 20 sonata the subtitle 'the lesser the composer was perhaps making a distinction of relative length and weight of ideas between this work and the larger A minor sonata, op 10 (1927). All movements share a common thematic thread in the main ideas of the opening movement, marked 'flowing'. The sonata form is like that of Chopin, in which the B material is recapitulated before the A material; sandwiched in between the outer sections is a development that begins with a fugal exposition of the A material and ends with a quasi-cadenza marked 'free'. In the second, slow movement, in C-sharp minor, the A material is transformed into an undulating, often highly

in triplets, upon which texture The coda is hauntingly vague chromatic accompaniment is etched a new theme. harmonically. The main material of the sonata is turned into a 'lively' dance for the finale. It is used both thematically and accompanimentally, as in the first movement. The sonata design takes on greater unity with the use of the main theme of the second movement over the return of A as closing material. The development section, in free tempo, recalls both the cadenza-like passage of the first movement as well as the A material used lyrically. The leaping chords in both hands remind one of the piano writing of Schumann and Brahms, but the rapid and unex- pected chord resolutions are strictly Bricht. Note by Dr Paul Martin odal THREE IN TERMEZZI we op 117 (1892) of gaibeat 1000 a Johannes Brahms (1833-97) mix pages cy edin Andante moderato Andante non troppo con molto expressione Andante con moto pilte viistosmas on saledas si During the last six years of his life Brahms wrote the four sets of piano pieces op 116 to op 119. It is note- ebo worthy that the main works written immediately before and after these sets were for clarinet - the trio and quintet and the sonatas. It seems to me, therefore, that op 117 with the simplicity of no. 1, the intimacy of no. 2 and the haunting qualities of no. 3 may well be played with the sonority of the clarinet in mind. The older Brahms became, the more economical, especially regarding thematic material. These three pieces all use ternary form, and there exist more or less subtle links between the themes of the outer and middle sections. In no. 2 the link is most obvious, whereas in no. 1 only a small motif is extracted from the main theme. No. 1 is based on a Scottish folksong, which Brahms gives to an inner part. 81 odod 0 3476 2427

st SYMPHONIC STUDIES, op 13 (1834) Robert Schumann (1810-56) Dedicated to William Sterndale Bennett, the full title is 'Symphonic Studies in the form of Variations'. Five extra variations were published posthumously, but the work is usually performed without these. It consists therefore of a theme, eleven variations and a finale. The theme, written by the father of one of his girl friends, Ernestine von Fricken, is marked Andante, and provides a powerful beginning to the great work. Variation 1 treats a new motif imitatively and eventually has part of the main theme superimposed on it. The second, lyrical variation contains the theme in the bass. Variation 4 is chordal and canonic and leads directly into a scherzo-like variation. Succeeding variations have different types of virtuosic writing, leading to the slow, beautiful variation in G-sharp minor, the dominant minor. This is a duet played over a murmuring bass. at main cont The finale in D-flat major contains an especially exhilara- ting moment, when, during the final statement of its main theme, a B-flat minor chord is unexpectedly changed to the major. This leads into a climactic and exciting coda. Notes by Roy Holmes TONIGHT'S ARTIST Roy Holmes obtained his BMus degree from Queen's in 1972. From 1973 to 1976 he studied the piano under Dieter Weber at the Vienna Hochschule für Musik, and in 1976-77 he did a Master's degree at Indiana University, under Gyorgy Sebok. ****** ********* NEXT CONCERT 21 October 1978, 7.30 p.m. Whitla Hall RITA STREICH (Soprano)