THE BELFAST MUSIC SOCIETY in association with THE ARTS COUNCIL FOR NORTHERN IRELAND and THE MUSIC DEPARTMENT, QUEEN'S UNIVERSITY NOBUKO IMAI (viola and violin) JANET HILTON (clarinet) ANTHONY GOLDSTONE (piano) Saturday 26 April 1986 7.30 pm Elmwood Hall

da PROGRAMME Trio in E flat major, K498 Sonata for viola and piano, Op.147 Contrasts (1938) Mozart Shostakovich Bartók

1 Trio in E flat major, for clarinet, viola and piano, K498 Andante Minuet and trio. Rondeaux (Allegretto) W.A. Mozart (1756-1791) The original published edition of this trio bore the title: 'Trio for clavicembalo or fortepiano with the accompaniment of violin and viola ... the violin part can also be performed on the clarinet'. Though very probably the work of Mozart himself, the violin version was no doubt purely intended as a concession to commercial considerations; it is, however, still performed occasionally, and indeed a recording has recently appeared. The trio was composed in the summer of 1786 for one of Mozart's favourite piano pupils, Franziska von Jacquin; the clarinettist was Anton Stadler, for whom the better known Quintet and Concerto were written, while Mozart himself played the viola part. A curious story relates that Mozart conceived the trio while playing a game of skittles hence the common nickname, 'Kegelstatt'. However, the work certainly doesn't sound like a composition deriving from a skittle game; in fact it is, thanks to the instrumentation, a predominantly dark-hued work. Even the Minuet and Trio are in Mozart's most serious vein. Unusually, the work has only three movements; the traditional opening movement is omitted, the trio beginning with the slow movement. The finale was called by Mozart Rondeaux i.e. the plural of Rondo - perhaps because of the large number of different episodes of which the movement is made up. INTERVAL

2 Sonata for viola and piano, Op.147 Aria (Moderato) Scherzo (Allegretto) Adagio D. Shostakovich (1906-1975) All three works in tonight's concert were composed with particular artists in mind. This sonata, Shostakovich's last major composition, was written for Fyodor Druzhinin, the viola player of the Beethoven String Quartet who had given the first performances of many of Shostakovich's string quartets. It was first performed by Druzhinin in Leningrad on October 1 1975, two months after the composer's death. Perhaps this connection with the Beethoven Quartet explains the frequent allusions to the 'Moonlight Sonata' in the finale of Shostakovich's work. The links with Beethoven don't end there, as both composers' late works share a seriousness of purpose and an almost 'other-worldliness'. The obsession with death that colours many of Shostakovich's late works (e.g. the 14th Symphony and the 15th Quartet) is replaced in the outer movements of this sonata by a calm resignation. This mood is broken by the grim scherzo, strongly influenced by folk music; a pounding 2/4 metre in the accompaniment being constantly disturbed by the inclusion of bars with an extra beat or half beat, and by the viola line, which keeps going its own way across the barlines. Maybe this is a dance of death for his own beloved country we know from his 'unofficial' writings that Shostakovich despaired at the way that the ideals of the 1917 Revolution had been distorted by successive leaders, and his music is frequently music of protest. Both moods - calm resignation and the grimness of death are also characteristics of the music of the composer who was a major influence on Shostakovich, Gustav Mahler.

3 Harmonically and melodically, the viola sonata is typical of the late works; Shostakovich stretching tonality to its limits, while never losing sight of the basic key centre; the outer movements are on C (rather than in C); in contrast, however, the scherzo is firmly rooted in B flat minor. The opening bars of the sonata. present a number of elements that are common to all three. movements, and provide unity; one of the most obvious is the interval of a 5th with which the work opens (pizzicato on the viola). This interval or its inversion, the 4th - colours much of the melodic writing. The oscillating shape of this opening is characteristic of much of the material of the sonata (oscillating motives are, in fact, a typical Shostakovich fingerprint). Both the second and third movements end with such a motif - the scherzo indecisively, the finale in a clear, though pianissimo, C major. Contrasts for violin, clarinet and piano (1938) Moderato ben ritmato Lento Allegro vivace B. Bartók (1881-1945) Like the Rhapsody performed in the last B.M.S. concert, Contrasts reflects Bartók's interest in the folk music of his native Hungary; to the violin and piano of the Rhapsody, Bartók adds another folk instrument, the clarinet. The trio was written for Bartók to play with the violinist Joseph Szigeti and the jazz clarinettist Benny Goodman, who commissioned compositions from a number of 'classical' composers. These three musicians gave the first performance of the piece in New York in January 1939, and recorded it the following year. Bartók provides cadenzas to spotlight each of his friends; the clarinet in the first movement, and the violin in the finale; the latter is a miniature version of the cadenza in the violin. concerto Bartók was working on at the same time.

4 One particular interest of the composer which is readily apparent is his use of mirror images - ascending motives being answered by descending ones, for example, or, as in the short central slow movement, theme and inversion being heard simultaneously. The three movements each bear a title in Hungarian. The slow movement, providing a gentler contrast to the two hectic outer movements (though it has a more agitated central section), is entitled Pihenö (Relaxation). The opening movement has the character of one of the best known Hungarian popular dances, Verbunkos (Recruiting Dance); the curiously swaggering main theme being stated at the opening on the clarinet, to the accompaniment of pizzicato chords on the violin. The finale, Sebes (Fast Dance), opens in true 'hoe-down' style with the violin playing open 5ths or what should be open 5ths, but Bartók asks the player to use a mis-tuned violin with the top string tuned down to E flat and the G string tuned up to G sharp. The wild dance is interrupted by a gentler central section written in one of Bartók's favourite irregular metres; in this case 13/8, divided into 3+2+3+2+3 beats, before the fast music returns to whirl us to an exciting conclusion. * * * * Programme notes by Alec MacDonald ***

5 TONIGHT'S ARTISTS. NOBUKO IMAI is now established as a distinguished international viola soloist. She studied in Tokyo and in the U.S.A., and is the only violist to have won the highest prizes in both the Munich and Geneva International Viola Competitions. Her concert appearances have taken her throughout Europe, North and South America and Japan, and they cover a wide and varied repertoire. She played in the world premiere of Tippett's Triple Concerto in 1980. and subsequently recorded it with Colin Davis and the L.S.O. for Philips. JANET HILTON has built a reputation as one of the finest British wind soloists. For six years Principal Clarinet of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, she has since pursued a busy international career as a soloist, appearing with many orchestras in addition to giving solo and chamber music recitals. Several composers have written specially for her, and she has made a number of very successful recordings for the Chandros label, notably of the Brahms Sonatas and Quintet and the Weber Concertos. ANTHONY GOLDSTONE is one of Britain's leading pianists. He studied in Manchester and in London, and was awarded prizes in international competitions in Munich and Vienna in the late 1960s. To date he has played in ten European countries, North and South America, South Africa, the Far East and Australasia. His repertoire is immensely wide-ranging, covering over 50 concertos extending from classical to contemporary, but chamber music also plays an important part in his career, and he broadcasts frequently on radio and television. ************