BRITISH MUSIC SOCIETY OF NORTHERN IRELAND in association with THE DEPARTMENT OF MUSIC, QUEEN'S UNIVERSITY and THE ARTS COUNCIL OF NORTHERN IRELAND SIXTH RECITAL MITSUKO UCHIDA (piano) Elmwood Hall Thursday 14 February 1980 at 7.30 p.m.

Four Impromptus, Op. 142 Franz Schubert (1797-1828) Schubert wrote two sets of Impromptus and they are among the most popular of his piano pieces. This Op. 142 set is controversial in that, although given the title of Impromptus, it was alleged to have been the first of four piano sonatas composed by him during the last ten months of his life. The Impromptus were published posthumously, after which Schumann said: "I find it difficult to believe that Schubert really gave these movements the title of Impromptus. The first movement is so obviously the first movement of a sonata, so completely developed and finished that there can be absolutely no doubt about it." This First Impromptu, in F minor, is followed by the Second an Allegretto in A flat major, which might be seen, in terms of the work being a sonata, as a logical second movement to the first. The Third Impromptu, in B flat major, is a set of five variations on the familiar theme which Schubert used in the A minor Quartet and Ros amunde. The Fourth Impromptu, an Allegro Scherzando, reverts to the F minor key of the First Impromptu, and is full of whimsical fancy in its harmony, melody and rhythm. Although its key supports the view that this Impromptu could be the finale of a sonata, its general construction tends to contradict this. All in all, it is unlikely that these Four Impromptus really do constitute a sonata. Schumann eventually came to the same conclusion and commented that they were, "if not a complete sonata, one more lovely reminder of Schubert."

Piano Sonata Op. 1 Allegro moderato - Più Lento - Molto più lento Written in 1907-8, the Piano Sonata was not a result of Berg's studies with Schoenberg, although the master did keep an eye on its progress. Although it is in one movement only, the work stands quite firmly and is aesthetically sufficient in itself. Berg did, at one stage, attempt to write two more movements, but could not find any suitable ideas. Schoenberg remarked that this showed the composer had said all there was to say; as a result, Berg decided to publish the sonata as it stood. The work closely follows the three main divisions of the classical sonata, even containing a formal repeat of the exposition. Each of the three sections has its own tempo - a peculiarity of Berg's method of distinguishing the various sections of a movement. These perpetual tempo fluctuations are matched by the extreme fluidity of the harmonic language, in which the semitone plays a fundamental part. Although this results in a thematic economy, the emotional expression of the sonata is remarkable; like most of Berg's compositions, it is a tragic work, particularly poignant in the opening and funeral closing sections. ******************* Alban Berg (1885-1935) INTERVAL *******************

Two Nocturnes Op. 62 No. 1 in B major No. 2 in E major Frédéric Chopin (1810 184 9) During Chopin's lifetime, his nocturnes were the most popular of his piano compositions and they span practically his whole career as a mature musician - the earliest dating from 1827, while the last, these two of Op. 62, were written in 1846. No. 1 is a quiet, reflective piece in the familiar A B A pattern we have come to associate with Chopin, but the individual sections are less symmetrical in themselves than many of his earlier pieces. For example, the first part of the theme is only three and a half bars long instead of the usual four - its cadence merging into the repetition. A strangely haunting passage occurs towards the end of the first section, reappearing in a modified form at the end of the Nocturne. The middle section is typical of Chopin's later style, in the range of the melodic line and the individuality of the harmony now more chromatic than in his earlier works. No. 2 reverts to an earlier style of theme, the first part being in eight-bar phrases, but the central section belongs very definitely to the style of the later period seen by the freedom with which the theme moves over a bass of running semiquavers changing to a syncopated accompaniment. This new material, distinct from what has gone before, is far from merely serving the function of a contrast, for it results in the prevailing mood becoming more urgent, only gradually returning to the calmer atmosphere of the opening.

Sonata No. 2 in B flat minor, Op. 35 Grave -Doppio Movimento Scherzo.. Marche Funèbre Finale Pres to Completed in 1839, the B flat minor Sonata remains one of Chopin's most ambitious works, its noble structure being well in advance of its time. So extreme are its tension- generating contrasts that for long, the sonata was considered. not to hang together. The first movement begins with four bars of 'Grave' introduction, followed by the clear command to "double the speed." Thematically, it is very closely knit, the intervals of the minor third, the falling diminished seventh and the rising second assuming importance as "cells" from which the whole is built. The scherzo which follows is related more to the Beethoven scherzo than to Chopin's own highly individual examples of the form, and technically, it is more demanding than any of the rest of the sonata. The strongly contrasting trio in this movement is subtly integrated with the end of the scherzo, and its theme also looks forward to the central section of the Marche Funèbre which follows. This famous Funeral March, composed two years earlier as a separate piece, forms the slow movement of the sonata, and critics have often observed that it does not "belong." On closer examination, however, it will be revealed that the first few bars of the march are, in fact, the opening bars of the sonata in retrograde... For the time at which the work was written, this is creative integrity of a very high order. The finale is without precedent in the entire literature of the keyboard, its continuous whirl of stark-sounding octaves being futuristically athematic in character. The intervals of the falling seventh and rising second, seen in

the first movement, are also in evidence here, and the harmony is on the brink of atonality. The wealth of detail and technical skill involved in this movement brings the sonata to its close in a manner both fantastic and inevitable. TONIGHT'S ARTIST Mitsuko Uchida was, by the age of 12, already an exceptional piano student in Tokyo, and in 1961, she accompanied her family to Vienna where, by a stroke of musical good fortune, her father had been posted with the Japanese diplomatic service. Mitsuko consequently went study at the Vienna Academy of Music under Richard Hauser, and with Stefan In skenase and Wilhelm Kempff among her mentors, she soon scored brilliant successes in major piano competitions. 1969, at only 20 years of age, she won first prize in the Beethoven Competition in Vienna and the following year won second prize in the Chopin Competition in Warsaw. In 1975, she won second prize in the Leeds International Competition, since which time she has given performances of the Grieg Concerto with the LSO at the Royal Festival Hall and Beethoven's 'Emperor' Concerto at the Royal Albert Hall with the New Philharmonia Orchestra, not to mention frequent recitals in the Queen Elizabeth Hall. Mitsuko has also made a number of records for the Toshiba-EMI company, including a special Beethoven centenary performance of the rare E flat major concerto, written when Beethoven was only 14. The BMS would like to extend its grateful thanks to Mitsuko Uchida for kindly agreeing to replace our advertised pianist at such short notice.

NEXT RECITAL Saturday 8 March 1980 at 7.30 p.m. Elmwood Hall THE FITZWILLIAM QUARTET