X Belfast Music Society Celebrity Concerts 11.1.97 Programme

JULIAN BREAM ~ guitar Suite No. 9 in D minor PROGRAMME doo Suite No. 3 in C for Violoncello, BWV 1009 Tonadilla: (La Maja de Goya) Danzas espanolas, Nos. 5 & 10 Five Bagatelles Suite espanola, Op. 47 Waterfront Oil Saturday, 11th January 1997 The Studio, Waterfront Hall at 7.30pm Sponsored by The Friends of BMS Supported by the ARTS COUNCIL BEST ITY C co Robert de Visée Enrique Granados J.S. Bach William Walton Isaac Albéniz NATIONAL FEDERATION OF MUSIC SOCIETIES NEMS

Suite No. 9 in D Minor Prélude Allemande - Courante - Sarabande Rondeau Bourrée - Passacaille - Menuet - Gigue Robert de Viseé (c. 1656-c.1732) The music of Robert de Visée exemplified some of the most sophisticated elements in the art of the five-course guitar of the Baroque era. De Visée was one of the foremost musicians at the court of Louis XIV, being guitarist, player of the theorbo, singer, and composer. (In his diary of 1686 The Comte de Dangeau comments that de Visée was often asked to entertain the king by playing the guitar in the royal bedchamber at around nine o'clock in the evening.) Robert de Visée's elegant use of dance forms and inventive melodies have proved immensely appealing to modern guitarists since the 1920's when his music was first re-discovered after centuries of neglect. Suite No. 9 in D minor was published in 1686 in de Visée's second book of pieces for the guitar. The music for Baroque guitar was written not in musical notation but in the form known as tablature (a system which indicates the position of the fingers on the strings rather than the pitch of each note). The guitarists of de Visée's era were well acquainted with the requirements of this method, especially as it followed the principles and traditions of lute tablature with its long and distinguished pedigree. De Visée did not use the word 'suite', and his grouping of pieces are in terms of key and convenience rather than being closely unified sets of dances such as we find in the suites of J.S. Bach. A particular delight of this school of guitar is the ornamentation subtly woven into the dance rhythms, leaving ample scope for the performer's imagination and dexterity. Suite No. 3 in C major for Violoncello, BWV 1009 I. Prélude - II. Allemande - III. Courante - IV. Sarabande V. Bourrée I/II - VI. Gigue J.S. Bach (1685-1750) J.S. Bach composed the Six Suites for Violoncello Solo, BWV 1007-1012 during his time as Kapellmeister at Cothen between 1717 and 1723. None of the four extant manuscripts is in Bach's writing though one is in the hand of Anna Magdalena Bach. But an autograph copy of Bach's lute transcription of Suite No. 5 in C minor for Violoncello, BWV 1011, (Suite in G minor, BWV 995), with the dedication, 'Pièces pour la Luth á Monsieur Schouster par J.S. Bach', provides evidence of the enthusiasm of Baroque musicians for transferring works from bowed to plucked stings. Julian Bream has therefore used J.S. Bach's own precedent as an example and inspiration for his new transcription for guitar of Suite No. 3. The Cello Suites were neglected for many decades after Bach's death. But the great cellist, Pablo Casals, at the age of thirteen, discovered an old edition of them in a music shop in Barcelona, and twelve years later became the first recitalist to perform an entire Bach suite in a public recital. He describes in his autobiography how from these suites, 'a whole radiance of space and poetry pours forth', and how they are 'the essence of Bach, and Bach is the essence of music'.

Suite No. 3 is a superb example of J.S. Bach's development of the suite form to its highest expressive point. The extended Prelude in the style of a free fantasia moves across almost the entire range of the instrument, whether played on cello or guitar. From the sweeping scale passages of the opening bars, the Prelude evolves towards gentle arpeggios with deep repeated pedal notes, and ends with grand chords in a vivid coda. The dance movements alternate between slow and fast tempos. Thus the arabesque-like embellishments of the Allemande are followed by the brilliance of the Courante, the emotional intensity of the Sarabande contrasts with the lively rhythms of Bourree I/II. The work culminates in a skittish Gigue with its fast triple time, exploring sonorities of both high and middle registers of the instrument with considerable virtuosity. Tonadilla: (La Maja de Goya) Danzas españolas, No. 5 & 10 Enrique Granados (1867-1916) Enrique Granados was, like Albéniz, one of the great nationalist composers of Spanish romanticism. Though neither Granados nor Albéniz ever wrote anything for the guitar directly their music constantly evokes guitar sonorities and rhythms. A tonadilla is a tune set to poetry or dance, often with contrasting tempi and originally signified a musical intermezzo between acts in the theatre. La Maja de Goya is taken from Tonadillas, a song- cycle written in 1912/13, depicting the composer's admiration for the work of Goya. Granados was fascinated by the great Spanish artist's version of Madrid's fashionable young women, the majas, and the ten songs in the cycle celebrate their colourful characteristics. Granados began writing Danzas españolas for pianoforte in 1890 when he was twenty-three. The pieces were published as a complete set of twelve in 1900 and were a great success, often performed as part of the composer's own piano recitals. Spanish Dance No. 5 is the most famous of all the compositions of Granados. Subtitled Andaluza-Playera, the dance evokes the vitality of the rhythmic flamenco guitar of Andalusia while the slow middle section represents the coplas, the sung verses of the seguidillas. Danza española No. 10 was dedicated to La Infanta Doña Isabel de Bourbon, sister of King Alfonso XII and features the melodies of Granados in their most lyrical and poetic colours. Five Bagatelles I. Allegro - II. Lento - III. Alla Cubana - IV. Sempre espressivo V. Con Slancio Willian Walton (1902-1983) Sir William Walton's Five Bagatelles were written for Julian Bream and dedicated to Malcolm Amold 'with admiration and affection for his 50th birthday'. Premiered by Julian Bream at the 1972 Bath Festival, they were immediately acknowledged as masterpieces of the contemporary guitar repertoire.

The first Bagatelle is a virtuosic and mercurial piece with an espressivo middle section. Lento is reminiscent of Satie, while Alla Cubana is a lyrical and effervescent movement with rhythms evoking Latin-American music. Sempre espressivo offers a remarkably imagina- tive use of bell-like harmonics with many tenderly expressive moments in its gentle melodic line. The final movement, Con Slancio (leaping forward) is full of vivid scalic passages and incisive chordings, involving the full range of the fingerboard in a brilliant climax. Walton also arranged Five Bagatelles for orchestra under the title of Varii Capricci and the music inspired Sir Frederick Ashton to choreograph a ballet performed at Covent Garden as a memorial to the composer in March, 1983. Suite española, Op. 47 Asturias (leyenda) - Granada - Cádiz - Sevilla Isaac Albéniz (1860-1909) Isaac Albéniz was born in Camprodon in Catalonia, spending part of his childhood in Barcelona. Yet though Catalan by birth, his celebration of the great cities of Andalusia remains a perennial evocation of Iberian romanticism. He composed mainly for pianoforte, writing nothing for guitar. But ever since Tárrega first transcribed some of his works, Albéniz's music has been at the heart of the guitar repertoire. Asturias refers to the hilly region along the Bay of Biscay in northern Spain, the centre of the country's coal mining industry. The province has produced many haunting folk-songs and this piece, subtitled leyenda ('legend'), is one of the most memorable statements of imagistic music. The outer sections, in their brilliance and fervour, recreate the accents and timbres of the eternal Spanish guitar, while the middle movement brings before us the intensity of song and the subtle movements of dancers. Granada commemorates the beauty of the ancient city, its Moorish past symbolised by the Alhambra Palace. Described by Albéniz as a serenata, this melodic work captures the spiritual presence of old Granada, full of mystery and romance. Cádiz (published also as Serenata española, Op. 18), is a saeta, the song to the Virgin which bursts out like an arrow during the religious processions of Easter. But the piece also offers a vivid impression of the bustling port on the Atlantic coast. Sevilla evokes the vigorous flamenco dance, the sevillanas, full of colour and vitality. The slow middle section expresses the plaintiveness of cante jondo (flamenco 'deep song'), before the dance returns in all its gaiety and virtuosity. Graham Wade, Author's Copywright 1997

TONIGHT'S ARTIST JULIAN BREAM occupies a pre-eminent position in the world of the guitar and is the finest lutenist of his generation. He has toured all five continents and each season spends three or four weeks in the USA as well as regular concerts in Europe. In the UK he regularly gives recitals at the major British venues and he is also in great demand as a concerto soloist, with the London Mozart Players developing a prestigious festival at the Barbican in 1996 in tribute to his work. For thirty years Julian Bream recorded for RCA and has won many international recording awards. In 1979 RCA presented him with a platinum disc to mark record sales of half a million in the UK alone. He has also won gold and silver discs for records made with his friend and colleague, John Williams. In 1990 Julian Bream embarked on a new recording career, signing an exclusive contract with EMI Classics, his first disc being an album of guitar concerti with Simon Rattle and the CBSO and most recently a recital disc of twentieth century works, 'Nocturnal' - "The temptation to say that Bream has rarely played (or been recorded) better than here is too strong to resist." (Gramophone, April 1994). Julian Bream has done much to broaden the guitar repertoire with his many transcription of Romantic and Baroque works; yet, more importantly, he has commissioned new works from such eminent contemporary composers as Britten, Walton, Henze, Takemitsu and Sir Michael Tippett, many of them masterpieces in their genre. In 1964 Julian Bream was awarded the OBE for his services to music and in 1985 he was awarded the CBE. He is also the proud possessor of the 1976 Villa-Lobos Gold Medal, presented to him personally by the composer's widow. This year Julian Bream celebrates his 50th year in the music business: he made his professional debut in February 1947 at Cheltenham, aged 14 years. NEXT CONCERT Saturday, 8th February 1997 IAN BOSTRIDGE - tenor ROGER VIGNOLES - piano Elmwood Hall - 7.30pm