THE BELFAST MUSIC SOCIETY in association with THE ARTS COUNCIL OF NORTHERN IRELAND and THE MUSIC DEPARTMENT, QUEEN'S UNIVERSITY THE FITZWILLIAM STRING QUARTET Christopher Rowland (violin) Jonathan Sparey (violin) Alan George (viola) Ioan Davies (cello) Elmwood Hall 7.30 p.m., 11 February 1984

STRING QUARTET in E minor, op. 121 Allegro moderato Andante Allegro Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924) Fauré wrote his only string quartet between 1923 and 1924, at the end of his long and creative life. He was known occasionally to use material from his own early pieces in later works; this quartet is such a work, using themes originally found in his violin concerto of 1878/79. Fauré obviously felt that he could provide a tighter structure for the earlier material in the later work, and in retrospect we must agree. The quartet is in three movements. It begins with a sonata movement which opens with a dialogue between a questioning viola line, and a cantilena violin melody. The second subject, in G major, continues the singing style, and steers the music to a pause on B minor. The development begins with the earlier viola theme, but soon the previous violin line is added as the music is worked out. The viola theme is missing from the recapitulation, which concerns itself with the violin melody, but it returns to provide material for the serene of boib bod odv smisliv coda. boyalq ara doidy aims The second movement is again in a cantabile style, with the opening violin line being imitated by the cello. This sets the scene for the rest of the movement; the second theme, for ample, being stated on the viola, and then imitated on the violin, while the other instruments play simple accompanying chords. This theme is developed against undulating patterns on the other strings until a recapitulation of the first theme appears. There follows a brief coda bringing the music to a close on A major.

The final scherzo-like movement begins with a series of short arch-like themes passing from cello to viola to violin. A second, soaring theme is heard, again on the cello, and again passing upwards to the violin. These two themes are alternately developed for the rest of the move- ment. The music passes through several keys on its route from the opening E minor to the final assertive E major. STRING QUARTET no. 7 in F minor, op. 108 Allegretto Lento Allegro Allegretto Dmitri Shostakovich 101 (1906-1975) bas TOW By the time Shostakovich came to write his first string quartet, in 1938, he was already the established and mature composer of five symphonies. He continued writing quartets, fifteen in all, until the end of his life; so that we might see a parallel between his quartets and his general artistic attitudes. Similar observations have been made of Bartók. Quartet no. 7 was written in 1960; it is one of the shorter, more intimate of his quartets, and bears an inscription to his first wife, Nina, who had died in 1954. It is in three move- ments which are played without a break. The Allegretto is a closely knit movement, themati- cally based on the opening descending solo violin line. This idea is taken up as a second subject by the cello; here the theme is inverted. After a short imitative passage, the first theme reappears, this time played pizzicato. Finally there occurs a further version of the cello theme, and the imitative passage, before the move- ment ends with a fragmentation of the opening rhythmic figure.

The short Lento movement is in simple ternary form. The main theme, heard first high on the violin, soars over an ever-moving quaver passage. The theme continues on the other instruments before the B section, in which the accompaniment takes the form of pairs of repeated notes: the texture is sparse throughout. The movement ends with the return of the A section. The final Allegro combines elements from the previous movements in a fugato texture, which builds ever upwards in tension towards its climax, at which point the main theme from the Lento appears in octaves on the viola and cello, thus creating further overall unity. The re follows a variation of the quartet's opening theme before a final Allegretto section, in which much of the first movement, including the pizzicato passage, is recapitulated. This brings the work to a quiet close. ********************* INTERVAL *********************

STRING QUARTET in F major, op. 135 Allegretto 1916 Vivace Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) 84 3gemoval Lento assai, cantate e tranquillo Grave, ma non tratto - Allegro The F major was the last of Beethoven's quartets. It was completed in the autumn of 1826, a period of great anxiety for Beethoven over the attempted suicide of his nephew, Carl. However, this worry does not show through in the music, which is, in many ways, the most approachable of the late quartets. aig The work begins with a four-bar introduction, after which the first subject enters with a bright, dotted motive which is passed backwards and forwards between the players before ending in octaves. There follows a short transition in long notes before the subject returns with its dotted rhythm. A classically-organised transition- proper takes us to the second subject, characterised by fast triplets. In the development Beethoven seems to cast a nostalgic eye back at Haydn's quartets; a false recapitulation occurs, in B flat, long before it is expected. The development continues until a repetitive D flat in the cello finally shifts to the dominant C, heralding the recapitulation. A coda follows, based on the development, and the movement ends, as in the exposition, with the closing part of the first subject played quietly in octaves. The Vivace is an exhilarating scherzo, characterised by syncopations, and trio. Harmonically it starts with a straightforward progression of tonic and dominant, until interrupted by an ambiguous series of E flat octaves, which could lead the music to the subdominant, B flat. Instead it slides up to E natural then C revealing a

continuation of dominant harmony. The trio section starts with an ascending scale on violin I accompanied by repeated chords on the other strings. The whole idea is repeated up a tone on G, and then, surpris- ingly, up another tone on A. The lower three strings now take up the opening four-note figure of the trio, and repeat it as an ostinato while violin I plays a folk-like dance high above. The dance finally dies down and we are once more in the scherzo section. The movement ends with. a last jocular gesture, a diminuendo cut short by a final loud chord. In extreme contrast to the preceding scherzo, the slow movement begins with th gradual unfolding from the note F, of a D flat tonality. Violin I then presents the cantate 'song of repose'. A middle section, in the minor, varies this theme, before a return to the major and a final coda, which is again a variation of the opening theme. The Finale is prefaced with a title and a musical quotation. The title is 'The hard-made decision', and the extract is the three note motive G, E, A flat heard Grave at the start of the finale, and the motives A, C, G and G, B flat, F. Under these are written the words 'Must it be?' and 'It must be, it must be'. There has been much discussion and speculation as to what Beethoven meant by this. Opinions vary from a deep and philosophical comment upon life itself, to the answer given to a music subscriber who had not paid up! The final answer must rest with the listener. The first subject continues in canonic style, modulating as it progresses to A major. Here the second subject is heard on the cello; this is a cheerful melody reminiscent of a popular tune of the day. The development ends with a return of the Grave 'Must it be?' before the recapitulation and final coda which starts with the second subject being played pizzicato. As in the second movement, the Allegro ends in a diminuendo being interrupted by the final fortissimo cadence figure. Programme notes by David Morris

I allolv The members of the Fitzwilliam String Quartet, now established as one of the most outstanding British quartets, are no strangers to Belfast, having given us an outstanding recital in 1980. In addition to the classical repertoire, they have made something of a speciality of the quartets of Shostakovich, all of whose quartets they have recorded, as well as less often played works by composers such as Delius, Franck and Fauré. 3 TONIGHT'S ARTISTS SD 8 ***************** 99939 ads 03 ftabssy sd. NEXT RECITAL 1000 979120 1 To Thursday 1 March, 7.30 p.m. Elmwood Hall MAURICE HASSON (violin) IAN BROWN (piano) "THE VIRTUOSO VIOLIN" Music by Wieniawski, Paganini, Ravel, Saint-Saëns, Sarasate bre 0 3891 booge add yd besqui19