THE BELFAST MUSIC SOCIETY in association with THE ARTS COUNCIL OF NORTHERN IRELAND and THE MUSIC DEPARTMENT, QUEEN'S UNIVERSITY NIGEL KENNEDY (violin) PETER PETTINGER (piano) Saturday 23 March 1985 Elmwood Hall' 7.30pm

- 1 - Violin Sonata in E minor, Op.82 Allegro Romance (Andante) Allegro non troppo EDWARD ELGAR (1857-1934) a minor throat In March 1918, Elgar underwent operation, to recuperate from which he moved with his wife to a quiet residence at Brinkwells in Sussex. Sir Edward, always the dexterous and inquisitive dabbler, took to helping with the summer harvest and planting a nearby wood. He seems to have falled under the spell of the latter and captured its elusive mystery in a short musical essay he entitled WOOD MAGIC. This found its way into the sonata for violin and piano as the opening of the central Romance. It took the arrival of a piano at Brinkwells to inspire a break in the virtual creative silence of the previous year. In quick succession, the physically and mentally stronger Elgar produced his three most substantial chamber works the present sonata, the string quartet in the same key and the piano quintet in A minor. Contemporary critics were quick to note the conservative nature of all three - works not only in relation to other works written in the same period in Europe, but also when viewed retrospectively alongside Elgar's own symphonies and oratorios of the preceeding two decades. Ernest Newman noted of the sonata that:- "Elgar's style has become one of extraordinary slenderness as far as the mere notes are con- cerned... every superfluous line has been eliminated from the design, every superfluous note from the harmony; but the music carries a surprising weight of thought and feeling." Such a paring was not unknown among maturity witness it marked the final career. The cello Alice Elgar died the down and economising of means the Romantics as they reached Brahms and Mahler - and with Elgar significant phase of an opulent concerto followed in 1919, Lady following year and Sir Edward

- 2 - wrote little else of consequence in 1934. before his death minor The sonata's opening temporarily suggests A before two contrasting ideas are presented, each developed in a concentrated, sometimes contrapuntal manner. The second subject, in the relative major, is an inverted version of the first main idea and leads to a passage of quietly ruminating arpeggios in the violin and music of wandering chromaticism. The entire sequence of events is repeated to form a binary structure before a Coda returns us to the more rhetorical language of the opening. The Romance opens with music of faltering chromat- icism the Wood Magic already referred to. A recapit- ulation of this material "con sordino" follows a central section in B flat major. The E major finale begins by recalling material from the sonata's opening; the second subject comprises short figurations repeated through an errant key scheme. There is a false recapitulation before the entire expos- ition of themes is repeated a recurrence of the binary design of the first movement. While working on this finale, Elgar heard of the sudden death of Mrs Marie Joshua, the work's dedicatee. As a final soft lament he incorporated a Coda which nostalgically recalls the central melody of the Romance and presents a minor- key version of the finale's opening theme. This last touching gesture symbolised a break with Elgar's past; devastating loss silencing of the within two years came another more which was to result in the virtual most outstanding voice in English music.

- 3 - Sonata No 1 in G minor for violin, BWV 1001 The six sonatas unaccompanied Adagio Fuga Allegro Siciliano Presto and partitas of J S violin are indisputably the cello JS BACH (1685-1750) Bach for greatest that much of works for the medium. They were written at Cöthen in 1720 and it is eternally our loss Bach's other chamber music from this period is unknown to us. Along with the six solo suites, the violin works show an unrivalled mastery of the instru- mental idioms and exploit the stringed instruments' double-stopping capability to astonishing contrapuntal effect. Fugal writing of great complexity, sonorous three and even four-part chords as well as wholesomely accompanied melody are freely indulged with no apparent loss of keyboard partnering. The G minor sonata opens with a majestic Adagio in which the spacious tempo allows for frequent four- part chords and ornate passage-work. The Fugue proceeds as an alternation of contra- puntal ingenuity with sequential broken-chord passages. There are four clearly defined fugal sections while the last eight bars contain music of falling chromaticism which adds significantly to the dramatic rhetoric. The gentle Siciliano provides momentary relaxation in the relative major key of B flat. There is frequent use of sixths in the harmony which contribute to overall feeling of benignity. the The final binary-form presto is an exhilarating 'perpetuum mobile', in which Bach seems to do little other than explore sequential scale and arpeggio patterns. Such is the nature of his genius, though, that he need do no more than this to produce music of consummate ease and mastery. Programme notes by Donal McCrisken

- 4- INTERVAL Thème et Variations (1932) piece his OLIVIER MESSIAEN (b.1908) Messiaen was only 24 when he wrote his Theme and Variations for violin and piano, but his music was already beginning to show a strong individuality, and in this lifelong fascination for both colour and rhythm is fully displayed. The Theme, marked Modéré, is followed by five variations played without a break: Modéré, Un peu moins modéré, Modéré avec éclat, Vif et passionné, and Très modéré. The final variation restates the theme on the violin, but it is now accompanied by powerful chords on the piano. I.D.D. Concert Fantasy on Themes from Bizet's 'Carmen', Op.25 PABLO DE SARASATE (1844-1908) One of the great violin virtuosi of the late 19th century, the Spanish composer Sarasate is perhaps best known for his Zigeunerweisen for violin. Bizet's opera Carmen had a disastrous première, but only ten years later Sarasate took some of the best-known melodies from the opera and arranged them for solo violin with orchestral or piano accompaniment. Although played continuously, four main sections follow the introduction, and the music is ingenious and technically very demanding. I.D.D. Out of the Cool DAVID HEATH (b. 1956) has given David Heath is a composer and flautist who solo classical concerts around Britain including the Purcell Room and the Wigmore Hall, played principal flute with the Hallé and English National Opera North orchestras

-5- and as leader of a jazz quartet, played at Ronnie Scott's, Riverside Studios and the Cork and Chichester International Festivals. Out of the Cool was written in 1978 and, like most of David Heath's compositions, is a direct result of his involvement with modern jazz. The work now has a regular place in Nigel Kennedy's repertoire and has been played by him all over the country, including the Wigmore Hall and at B.B.C. Lunchtime Recitals. Tzigane MAURICE RAVEL (1875-1937) Although Ravel knew most of the best French instrumentalists of his day, he only wrote concertos for his own instrument, the piano. However, he did write this very soloistic piece for violin and piano for Jelly d'Aranyi in 1924: she was a disting- uished Hungarian violinist, and so Ravel immediately incorporated the Hungarian gipsy style of her background into the work. It opens with a long unaccompanied violin solo statement of the material. After a short and brilliant cadenza, the piano carries on a theme over which the violin has harmonies and virtuoso music. A grandiose passage full of emotion precedes the return of the main allegro material and the work ends in a headlong, impetuous rush. I.D.D. We apologise to our patrons for any inconvenience which may have been caused by the last-minute change to the advertised programme for tonight's recital.

- 6- TONIGHT'S ARTISTS the NIGEL KENNEDY studied at the Yehudi Menuhin School and later at the Julliard School in New York. Born in 1956, he is one of the most distinguished violinists of his generation. He was made subject of a five-year BBC Television documentary, which culminated in his Festival Hall début with the Philharmonia Orchestra and Riccardo Muti in 1977. He has appeared with all the major British orchestras, but also gives frequent chamber music recitals, and in addition to Classical music he is very involved in performing Indian music and jazz. His recordings of the Elgar Violin Concerto and Violin Sonata have won warm critical praise and are best sellers. Nigel Kennedy plays a Stradivari violin. on his for PETER PETTINGER, who accompanies Nigel Kennedy best-selling record of Elgar's works solo violin (including the Violin Sonata), was born in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire in 1945. His classical training took place at the Royal Academy of Music from 1962-68, studying with pianist Vivian Langrish and composer Hugh Wood. He has since travelled extensively including three tours of Japan and countless appearances in the USA.