THE BELFAST MUSIC SOCIETY in association with orgoba THE ARTS COUNCIL OF NORTHERN IRELAND alt and to THE MUSIC DEPARTMENT, QUEEN'S UNIVERSITY ate_10184 01 ATARO2 JOHN LILL 7.30 p.m., (piano) Elmwood Hall 8 October, 1983 ABDE-HORA .01

SONATA in D major, K576 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Allegro Adagio Allegretto In the latter part of his life, Mozart devoted more attention to writing piano concertos than sonatas, but in the hope of patronage from the Prussian court he had planned in 1789 to write a set of six for the Princess Frederica. Sadly this, his last sonata, was the only outcome. Because of its distinctive opening theme, but for no other reason, it has been nicknamed the 'Trumpet' or 'Hunt' sonata. Like most of Mozart's mature sonatas, it needs great finger dexterity and musical expressiveness, and is not easy to bring off. It features many interesting contrapuntal touches. The first movement is a very neat demonstration of sonata form. A simple ternary slow movement of melting beauty then gives way to a rondo finale. CARNAVAL, op. 9 10. 11. 12. Preamble Pierrot Harlequin Noble Waltz Eusebius Florestan Coquette Reply Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) Chopin 13. Estrella Robert Schumann (1810-1856) Butterflies ASCH-SCHA (dancing Letters) Chiarina

14. Reconnaissance 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. Pantaloon and Columbine German Waltz Intermezzo: Paganini Avowal Promenade Pause March of the League of David against the Philistines This clever and enjoyable collection of pieces, written in Leipzig between 1834 and 1835 when Schumann was still a struggling student and composer, is based on the notes A or A flat, E flat, C and B, which in German notation can form the name of the town Asch, the birthplace of Schumann's current girlfriend, Ernestine von Fricken, and coincidentally the only 'musical' letters in Schumann's own name: Es (E flat), C, H (B natural) and A. The notes are found somewhere in all the pieces except the opening Preamble, and provide a unity of motif and key amongst a bewildering array of movements. Another unity is implied by the title, for one is led to imagine scenes at a masquerade ball at which some of the dancers are dressed as commedia dell'arte characters (Harlequin, Pierrot), some are hidden behind masks (Florestan and Eusebius stand for the two sides of Schumann's character, Estrella is Ernestine, Chiarina is Schumann's wife to be, (Clara Wieck), and some appear as themselves (Chopin, Paganini). The whole is surmounted by the superb final march (in 4!) of Schumann's friends (the David's League) against the Philistine 'oldies' characterised by a well-known tune called the Grandfather Waltz, by tradition played at the end of a dance. ******** INTERVAL ********

BALLADE No. 4 in F minor, op. 52 Fryderyk Chopin (1810-1849) Writers on music have always found more difficulty in categorising Chopin's larger works than the music lover has in listening to them. The name 'ballade' was chosen by Chopin for four works in compound time written probably for his own satisfaction as a pianist and composer between 1831 (when the first was sketched during Chopin's migration across Europe to Paris) and 1842, the date of this final one. It is indeed a suitable title, for the ballades are narratives in music, using the ideas both of progression and restatement until an end is reached an end not necessarily foreseen at the start. In this characteristically brilliant pianistic essay, Chopin proceeds from an introductory theme which is to return later, to the first of two main themes, each of which is to be heard in different keys and with varied and increasingly complicated decoration and accompaniment, until the music reaches a climax, a pause, five magical slow chords, and a powerful coda. The narrative is complete. SONATA in C major, op. 53 ('Waldstein') Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) Allegro con brio Introduzione: Adagio molto - Rondo: Allegretto In this sonata of 1803-4 we recognise the Beethoven who emerged in 1802 from the trauma of the recognition of his increasing deafness to a decision to set out on his path as an innovatory composer. Like the Symphony No. 3 'Eroi ') it exhibits the expansiveness of a composer who had served his apprenticeship in the classic style and was prepared to move beyond its boundaries. In addition Beethoven had taken delivery in 1803 of his new Erard piano with its extra high notes, and the sonata (named after its dedicatee, Count Waldstein) continues

his exploration of the instrument's dramatic and expressive qualities. The original slow movement was recognised as too leisurely to fit into such a dynamic work, and cremains to us as the charming Andante favori. Beethoven instead places after the sonata form first movement a pregnant Adagio in F major which leads directly into the Rondo finale. No longer writing for even talented amateurs, Beethoven here composed music that continues to challenge the greatest interpreters of his art. It is amazing how much of the first movement is built on scale passages, right from that first low pianissimo chord-pounding opening. It constantly moves from low to high and back again. It constantly and restle moves out of its ordained key of C major, too, with the chordal second subject in E major, not the dominant, and as well as exploring keys, Beethoven is experimenting with dynamics and sonorities. Yet through all there is a feeling of purposeful movement to the coda, which justaposes both main ideas. The main purpose of the Adagio is first to dispel the feeling of C major, but then to return to it for the finale, a simple sounding task, but how amazingly Beethoven does it by subtle chromaticisms, textures, and silences. The rondo theme is also apparently very simple, but his sketchbooks show how long Beethoven laboured over its precise character. Its serenity turns at the very end into the kind of heroic joy present in many of Beethoven's mid-period works (such as the final chorus of Fidelio). In between statements of the theme come two more stormy episodes, but also a lot of development of the theme itself, and further exploration of the possibilities of the pianoforte itself. One recognises that here a lot of the groundwork has been laid for Beethoven's late works. Programme notes by Hilary Bracefield

TONIGHT'S ARTIST JOHN LILL was born in London, and studies at the Royal College of Music and with Wilhelm Kempff. His name became a household word after he won the 1970 Tchaikovsky competition in Moscow. A frequent and popular visitor to Northern Ireland, his large repertory includes music by Beethoven, Brahms, Chopin, Liszt, Rakhmaninov and Prokofiev. His recordings include a complete cycle of the Beethoven piano sonatas. ***** ******** NEXT RECITAL Saturday, 21 January, 7.30 p.m. Elmwood Hall IAN PARTRIDGE (tenor) JENNIFER PARTRIDGE (piano) Schumann Dichterliebe Beethoven An die ferne Geliebte and Songs by Wolf and Brahms ***********************