Llŷr Williams
Beethoven Sonata Series: Final Recital
Cyfres Sonata Beethoven: Datganiad Olaf
Thursday 18 May| Iau 18 Mai 2017
7.30pm
NEUADD
DORA STOUTZKER
HALL
Programme | Rhaglen
Programme | Rhaglen
Beethoven Piano Sonata in E, Op 109
Beethoven Piano Sonata in Ab, Op 110
Beethoven Piano Sonata in C minor, Op 111
________________________________________________
Beethoven Piano Sonata in E, Op 109
1I.
Vivace ma non troppo — Adagio espressivo, E major
II.
Prestissimo, E minor
III. Gesangvoll, mit innigster Empfindung. Andante
cantabile ed espressivo, E major
molto
In the spring of 1820 Beethoven was troubled by several concerns:
money, his own health, and the welfare of his nephew Karl, for
whom he had applied for guardianship. Beethoven was granted this
guardianship, and at one point employed his friend Friedrich Starke
to teach the boy to play the piano. Starke was engaged in
compiling a piano teaching method, and Beethoven probably wrote
the first movement of his Sonata no.30, Op. 109, as an item for this
collection. While Beethoven was still working on his Missa Solemnis,
the publisher Moritz Schlesinger commissioned him to write three
piano sonatas (Op 109, 110 and 111) for a fee of 90 ducats. He
composed the rest of his Sonata no. 30 during the summer of 1820.
Schlesinger published the sonata in Berlin, with a dedication to the
daughter of a friend of Beethoven, Maximiliane Brentano.
The first movement of the sonata embodies a technique Beethoven
had been recently exploring, a so-called parenthetic method of
writing, in which one theme is abruptly interrupted by another,
which then gives way to the first theme again. Here the Vivace
opening with its skipping, syncopated rhythm is succeeded by the
rhapsodic, chromatic Adagio espressivo. The two tempi alternate
throughout the movement. The second movement, Prestissimo,
follows directly from the first (some commentators regard them as
parts of a single movement) and the rapid triplets in both hands
give it the feel of a gigue. The third movement is an extensive set of
six variations on a theme. The theme’s German tempo marking
translates ‘singingly, with deepest feeling’, a slightly different
emphasis from the Italian words. The falling major third that opens
the movement is reiterated many times during the theme and its
variations, and is the most notable interval in the whole sonata, its
prominence giving the sonata much of its character. The first
variation, ‘Molto espressivo’, has a simple, vamped accompaniment
to the ornamented theme. The second, ‘Leggiermente’ breaks up the
theme between the two hands, first in paired single-note
semiquavers and then in semiquaver chords. The ‘Allegro vivace’
third variation has running semiquavers against crotchets alternating
between the hands. In the fourth variation, canonic writing and other
contrapuntal effects including inversion develop the theme
chromatically, while the slower tempo than the original theme gives
a feeling of meditation. The energetic, thrusting fifth variation,
Allegro ma non troppo, opens in a way reminiscent of a fugue. The
last variation begins ‘cantabile’, moving from ¾ to 9/8, and
developing four contrasting voices, the inner pair initially as
semiquavers, then the upper and lower pairs as demisemiquavers
with quavers beneath them, eventually including pairs of trills in the
inner two voices, which run alongside demisemiquaver arpeggios
giving a thrilling texture of richness and complexity before the
original theme returns, cantabile, in the final bars.
Beethoven Piano Sonata in Ab, Op 110
Moderato cantabile molto espressivo
I.
Moderato cantabile molto espressivo, A flat major
II.
Allegro molto, F minor
III. Adagio ma non troppo – Allegro ma non troppo, D flat major
Beethoven’s Sonata No. 31, Op 110, was the second in the group of
three commissioned by Moritz Schlesinger for the Berlin publishing
firm he represented. In three movements, its main themes, as Alfred
Brendel pointed out, are all based on the hexachord, the first six
notes of the diatonic scale. By contrast to the stylistic originalities of
the previous sonata, the first movement has a classical, Haydnesque
form, exposing its themes and then developing and recapitulating
them in textbook style.
‘Unsa Kätz häd Kaz-ln g’habt’ – ‘Our cat had kittens’ - is a folk song
on which Beethoven reputedly based the opening of the scherzo,
whose two-minute duration is packed with humour and relish, in
contrast with the solemnity of the two outer, much longer
movements. The rapid alternation between minor and major, forte
and piano, gives the movement a frenetic mood which is only
calmed by the dense, slow chords of the coda.
The third movement is in the form an arioso alternating with a
fugue. The arioso is introduced by a recitativo, setting the
melancholy, meditative tone. Marked ‘Arioso dolente’, the main
theme has a song-like cadence, its sequential descending phrases
based again on the hexachord. The fugue has a theme that breaks
the hexachord into three sets of rising fourths, with an
accompanying pattern of triplets from which further statements of
the theme emerge. Another arioso section follows, even more
melancholy than the first, and with a weakening of energy that
allows it to die away in fading pianissimo triads. The reappearance
of the fugue now has its original theme in inversion, or upside
down, so that the striding fourths descend rather than rising. Such
a technique was a standard part of fugal writing from the early
Baroque period onwards, although Beethoven as so often uses
these forms in a novel and innovative way.
This time the
accompanying figure is in semiquaver sextuplets, which eventually
bring the movement out of its fugal complexities to a homophonic
conclusion.
Beethoven Piano Sonata in C minor, Op 111, No 32
I.
Maestoso – Allegro con brio ed appassionato
II.
Arietta: Adagio molto semplice e cantabile
Beethoven wrote his last sonata between 1821 and 1822, for
publication by Schlesinger who had commissioned it along with
the sonatas Op 109 and 110. The opening of the first movement is
marked ‘majestic’, and it has a declamatory, dramatic atmosphere
with its heavily-dotted rhythms and rapidly-ascending broken
chords. The Allegro con brio forms the larger part of the
movement, and opens with a dark, hesitantly-introduced theme
which soon becomes the subject of contrapuntal development
giving the movement the feeling of a fugato. There is much in the
movement that gives a questioning atmosphere: the trills in the
introduction, the diminished seventh chords, and the uneasy end
to the movement, which builds to a climax and then fades away.
The Arietta (the word means a small tune) is a set of variations on
a 16-bar theme, stated with great simplicity and in a singing style.
The time signature is 9/16, and subsequent variations use
different multiples of triple time. The first variation allows the
implied triplet semiquavers to emerge in the left hand, while the
second variation is marked 6/16. The third variation, with the
unusual time signature of 12/32, has been described as
Beethoven’s discovery of boogie-woogie rhythms a century
before their time. Many explanations have been given for this wild
outburst of joyful syncopation, one of the more convincing being
that Beethoven was influenced by the Scottish folksongs he had
been busy setting. As the variations progress, further rapid
arpeggiation and trilling in both hands raises the emotional level
to an ecstatic pitch, heightened by the huge leaps between bass
and treble as Beethoven explores the full range of the piano
keyboard, just as he uses similar gulfs between treble and bass in
his late string quartets. The movement ends with scale passages
in thirds, cascading down to die away to pianissimo and a final
abrupt quaver
Programme notes by Simon Rees © 2017
Llŷr Williams piano
Welsh pianist Llŷr Williams is widely admired for his profound
musical intelligence, and for the expressive and communicative
nature of his interpretations. He has worked with orchestras
including the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Scottish Chamber
Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, London Symphony
Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Phiharmonic Orchestra, BBC
Philharmonic Orchestra, Hallé Orchestra, London Mozart Players,
Sinfonia Cymru, I Pomeriggi Musicali, Meininger Hofkapelle,
Berner Kammerorchester, and the Mozarteum Orchestra in
Salzburg. A regular performer in the Wigmore Hall’s main piano
series, he also appears at the BBC Proms in London, Gilmore
International Keyboard Festival in the USA and has given many
acclaimed performances at the Edinburgh International Festival.
He is a regular performer at the East Neuk Festival in Scotland,
Piano aux Jacobins in Toulouse, and currently artist in residence
at Galeri Caernarfon in Wales. From 2017 Llŷr is also Artist in
Residence at the Cowbridge Festival, and Artist in Association at
RWCMD.
Williams is an acclaimed performer of Beethoven with one
complete piano sonata cycle under his belt and another under
way. The first one in the form of an epic two-week marathon
during the Edinburgh International Festival won him the
prestigious South Bank Show award, the second spread over
three seasons, at the Wigmore Hall and Royal Welsh College of
Music & Drama in Cardiff started in October 2014 and will run until
June 2017.
In January 2017 he completed a successful
collaboration with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra in
performances of all five Beethoven piano concerti. The 2016/17
includes his recital debuts at the Washington Performing Arts
series, Da Camera in Houston and Portland Piano International.
Llŷr Williams’ great love of lieder has led him to become one of
the regular official accompanists at the BBC Cardiff Singer of the
World Competition; resulting in further partnerships with Jamie
Barton in Edinburgh, baritone Quinn Kelsey, and Mongolian bass
Amartuvshin Enkhbat. He also has an ongoing collaboration with
violinist Alexander Janiczek, with whom he recently appeared at
Mozarteum Salzburg and the Wigmore Hall.
Llŷr Williams’ eclectic taste is reflected in his discography. His
latest release features the Wigmore Hall Beethoven cycle, the first
four volumes of which are already available exclusively on digital
platforms, while his critically acclaimed CD Wagner Without
Words (Signum, August 2014) reflects Williams’ intimate
relationship with operatic music. Williams had previously recorded
two solo albums for Signum, the first one in 2010 with music by
Mussorgsky, Debussy and Liszt and the second in 2012 featuring
works by Liszt. Llŷr Williams is the subject of two films produced
for S4C: the first of which won a Welsh BAFTA for Best Music
Programme, and the second featured his debut at Carnegie Hall.
Born in 1976 in Pentrebychan, North Wales, Llŷr Williams read
music at The Queen’s College, Oxford and went on to take up a
postgraduate scholarship at the Royal Academy of Music where he
won every available prize and award. He is also an Honorary
Fellow of the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. He was an
active member of the Live Music Now! scheme for several years,
was selected for Young Concert Artists in 2002. From 2003-2005
he was a BBC New Generation Artist and in 2004 received a
Borletti- Buitoni Trust award.
Coming Soon | I Ddod Yn Fuan
Thurs 9 Nov | Iau 9 Tach 7.45pm
Llŷr Williams
Schubert Recital Series | Cyfres Datganiadau Schubert
Schubert Sonata in G major, D 894
Schubert/Liszt Three songs
Ständchen
Auf dem Wasser zu singen
Ave Maria
Schubert Sonata in C minor, D 958
Steinway International Piano Series | Cyfres Piano Rhyngwladol Steinway
Date for the Diary | Dyddiad Ar Gyfer y Dyddiadur:
Sun 22 Oct | Sul 17 Hydref - 11.00am
Please note the new start time of 11am
Freddy Kempf
Beethoven Piano Sonata in D minor, OP 31 No.2 The Tempest
Prokofiev Piano Sonata No.1 in F minor, Op 1
Schumann Novelletten, Op 21
This attractive and unusual programme by the celebrated British pianist
Freddy Kempf opens with Beethoven’s Sonata No.17, which was given
the title The Tempest after Shakespeare’s play. It continues with
Prokofiev’s first Piano Sonata, written in one movement in 1907, and
concludes with Schumann’s Novelletten, eight pieces which show off the
virtuosity of the performer.
Venue: Dora Stoutzker Hall
Tickets: £16—£20
Sunday Roast: £8 in advance, £10 on the day - Book now
Sunday Roast will be served after the concert at 2.00pm. There will be a
choice of two meats or a vegetarian option.
Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama
Cathays Park
Cardiff
Coleg Brenhinol Cerdd a Drama Cymru
Parc Cathays
Caerdydd
www.rwcmd.ac.uk
029 2039 1391