THE HUDDERSFIELD MUSIC CLUB (Founded in 1918 by Dr. Eaglefield Hull) The National Federation of Music Societies, to which this Society is affiliated, supports these Concerts with funds provided by the Arts Council of Great Britain A SERIES OF FIVE CONCERTS FOR THE THIRTY-NINTH SEASON 1956-57 to be given in THE MAYOR'S RECEPTION ROOM TOWN HALL On MONDAY EVENINGS at 7-30 p.m. A. L. WOODHEAD, Esq., M.A., J.P, J. STANCLIFFE ELLIS, Esq. Honorary Vice-Presidents: DR. RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS, DAME MYRA HESS, BENJAMIN BRITTEN, F. W. GADSBY President Active Vice-President S. H. CROWTHER DAVID DUGDALE Mrs. E. GLENDINNING E. GLENDINNING Miss Z. E. HULL ... Mrs. H. AINLEY. Mrs. ARNOLD Mrs. BRANSOM Mrs. S. H. CROWTHER Miss K. EVANS Mrs. E. FENNER Mrs. D. HIRST Committee: P. L. MICHELSON Mrs. J. SHIRES Cr. F. ROWCLIFFE MAX SELKA Miss A. SHAW Hon. Secretaries: Mrs. A. E. HULL, 48 New North Road. Tel. Hudd 1094 STANLEY G. WATSON, 342 New Hey Road. Tel. Milnsbridge 1706 Hon. Treasurer: P. S. THEAKER, National Provincial Bank, King Street E. C. SHAW E. D. SPENCER J. TROLLER Mrs. S. G. WATSON Ladies' Committee: Chairman: Mrs. J. SHIRES Mrs. A. E. HORSFALL Mrs. A. E. HULL Miss Z. E. HULL Mrs. JACKSON Mrs. G. G. JARMAIN Mrs. A. W. KAYE Mrs. J. LEE Mrs. M. M. SAYER Miss A. SHAW Mrs. I. SILVERWOOD Mrs. E. D. SPENCER Mrs. P. SYKES Miss W. TOWNSEND Miss WHITWAM Hon. Secretary: Mrs. E. GLENDINNING Hon. Treasurer: Mrs. S. G. WATSON The Club is open to everyone

The Committee is happy to announce the following Season of outstanding Chamber Music Concerts. The artists engaged at four of the concerts are making their first appearance in Huddersfield, and the Committee confidently expect that much interest will be created thereby. MONDAY, 15th OCTOBER, 1956 Dennis Brain (Horn) Jean Pougnet (Violin) Wilfrid Parry (Piano) Programme includes: Sonata in A major (Kreutzer) Horn Trio in E flat, Op. 40 MONDAY, 26th NOVEMBER, 1956 Beethoven Brahms The Stross String Quartet Quartet in A minor, Op. 29 Quartet No. 3 in C major, Op. 22 Quartet in E flat major, Op. 127 Schubert Hindemith Beethoven

MONDAY, 14th JANUARY, 1957 The Parrenin String Quartet Quartet in G major, K. 387 Quartet in A minor Quartet MONDAY, 4th FEBRUARY, 1957 At the Piano. MONDAY, 18th MARCH, 1957 Numa Libin SONG RECITAL Songs by Handel, Bononcini, Gluck, Ravel, Ibert, Poulenc, de Falla, Finzi, Vaughan Williams, and Operatic Arias Mozart Schumann Paul Badura-Skoda PIANO RECITAL Debussy BARRIE HALL Programme to be announced later.

THE HUDDERSFIELD MUSIC CLUB SUBSCRIPTIONS A member's subscription for the Season is 35/-. Season tickets may be obtained from either of the Hon. Secretaries or from Messrs. J. Wood & Sons Ltd., 67 New Street. As you were a Member last Season . ticket (s) for the coming Season are enclosed herewith and it is requested that the appropriate subscription. be forwarded to the Hon. Treasurer (Mr. P. S. Theaker, National Provincial Bank, King Street, Huddersfield) before the date of the FIRST Concert (15th October). Cheques should be made payable to "The Huddersfield Music Club". In the event of any of the tickets not being required this year, they should be returned to Mrs. Hull, 48 New North Road, Huddersfield, not later than 1st October, after which date it will be assumed that they will be retained and paid for. If you were not a member last Season and would like to join the Club, will you please make early application to either of the Hon. Secretaries as the accommodation is limited. We shall greatly appreciate it if you will please pass this Prospectus on to your Friends

THE HUDDERSFIELD MUSIC CLUB A. L. Woodhead, Esq., M.A., J.P. (The National Federation of Music Societies to which this Society is affiliated, supports these Concerts with funds provided by the Arts Council of Great Britain) President MAYOR'S RECEPTION ROOM, TOWN HALL MONDAY, 15th OCTOBER, 1956 at 7-30 p.m. DENNIS BRAIN (Horn) JEAN POUGNET (Violin) WILFRID PARRY (Piano) 100 Programme: Price Sixpence

Progra rogramme The analytical notes in this programme are the copyright of the Huddersfield Music Club I Sonata for Horn and Piano in F major Op. 17 Allegro moderato Poco adagio quasi andante Rondo - Allegro moderato (First performance at these Concerts) Beethoven cultivated three distinct forms of chamber music; first, wind instruments supported by piano or strings; second, piano and strings; third, strings alone. The start of all three was almost contemporaneous but the course of their development varied. He discarded the first group after 1800 and thereafter used wind instruments for orchestral music onl The second group persisted until 1815; the final group-strings alone-kept Beethoven's interest until the end of his life. The Horn Sonata and the Septet in E flat were both written in 1800 and were therefore the last of Beethoven's compositions to make use of wind instrument in chamber music. All the duo sonatas were written as brilliant virtuoso concert pieces in marked contrast to the other chamber music, in which virtuosity as an end in itself is excluded. The Horn Sonata is no exception to the rule. Thirteen horn sonatas are known to exist, and of these Beethoven's example is outstanding. "The art with which Beethoven exploits and exhausts the spirits of his instruments, recognises their tone-character and obtains the most exquisite effects, is the more amazing." (Bekker). Many of Beethoven's virtuoso works were written with a particular player in mind. A horn player, Giovanni Punto, came from Munich to Vienna in 1800; he became a friend of Beethoven, who promised to write a sonata for his concert. "The concert, including the sonata, was advertised", writes Ferdinand Ries, "but the sonata had not been begun. The day before the performance Beethoven set to work and the sonata was ready for the concert." The story may not literally be true, but it seems likely that the work, so clear, well-constructed and effective, was written at high speed. The three movements are closely linked. The second movement, in the tonic minor key, follows the first with scarcely any break; while a short cadenza-like passage for the piano leads directly to the Rondo. II Beethoven (1770-1827) Sonata in A major for Violin and Piano Op. 47 (Kreutzer) Adagio sostenuto - Presto Andante con variazioni Finale - Presto Beethoven (1770-1827) (Last performed in 1944 by Max Rostal and Franz Osborn) The Sonata is the ninth of the ten sonatas for violin and piano. It was written in 1803. Accounts of the origin of the "title" vary, but according to Grove's version, there was "a curious bombastic half-caste English violin player in Vienna at that time named Bridge- tower. He had engaged Beethoven to write a sonata for their joint performance at his concert. Knowing Beethoven's reluctance to complete bespoken works, it is not surprising to find him behind time and Bridgetower clamouring loudly for his music. The finale was easily obtainable, having been written the year before the Sonata in A (Op. 30, No. 1.), and the violin part of the first movement seems to have been ready a few days before the concert, though at the performance the piano copy still remained almost a blank, with only an indication here and there. But the variations were literally finished only at the last moment, and Bridgetower had to play them at sight from the blurred and blotted autograph of the composer. Beethoven's rendering of the Andante was so noble, pure and chaste, as to cause a universal demand for an encore. A quarrel with Bridgetower caused the alteration of the dedication." Kreutzer himself was one of the most eminent violinists of his time, but there is no record of his ever having played the Sonata.

The "Kreutzer" is generally considered the best, and certainly the most popular, of the ten sonatas. The interest is equally divided between the two performers, and the work is written, as the original title-page says, "in a specially brilliant style." It is, indeed one of the great masterpieces of music. The slow introduction, with the violin announcing a solemn adagio which is repeated, with bold harmonic change by the piano, is an important innovation. A vigorous and passionate presto rises to a stormy close. The Andante consists of a set of variations upon a simple melody, which becomes decorated with every device of virtuosity. The Finale, resembling a tarantella, is one of Beethoven's most brilliant movements. Interval of ten minutes. III Trio for Piano, Violin and Horn in E flat major Op. 40 Andante Scherzo Adagio mesto Finale - Allegro - - Molto meno allegro Brahms (1833-1897) Allegro con brio (First performance at these Concerts) The horn, because of the beautiful and varied quality of its tone, its ability to blend with other instruments, its wide range of pitch and expression, is the only brass instrument which is used to any extent in chamber music. Of the chamber works written for it "greatest of all is the Brahms trio Op. 40, bringing out all that is loveliest in the cantilena, gayest in the staccato, and deepest in the sustaining qualities of the horn. One can hear or play this work again and again only to discover new beauties and carry the theme more lovingly in mind." (Tuthill). This Trio was written in 1865 and had its first performance in Zurich with Hans Richter playing the horn and Von Bulow the piano part. For the Trio Brahms expressly required the use of the French horn instead of the ventil horn. "The master's characteristic aversion for outward effects is betrayed here by his express choice of the old-fashioned French horn. Thereby he deprives himself of many technical possibilities, but recovers the original noble tone of the French horn. The spirit of the horn imbues the whole work with a delicate melancholy and an intense feeling for nature." (Geiringer). The Trio has also been called "an Eichendorf romance in four parts, and each is a German woodland song that wakes old legends which become one with the dear figures of the present and with a dreamer's memories." The first movement is particularly original. For the only time Brahms does not make use of sonata-form, but has a thrice repeated Andante with two more agitated contrasting sections. The whole movement gives the impression of the changing sunshine and shadow of a woodland scene. The second movement is a powerfully rhythmic scherzo, broken by a contrasting section after which the scherzo is repeated. The eighty-six bar slow movement, heart-felt and intense, is a requiem written in memory of the composer's mother. Towards the end of it, a theme for violin and horn is heard pianissimo, foreshadowing the theme of the last movement. The Finale, in sonata form, "closes the work in a glorious hunting scene." DENNIS BRAIN, born 1921, was educated at St. Paul's and the R.A.M. He learnt the horn under his father, Aubrey Brain and organ under G. D. Cunningham. He has played with most of the leading ensembles and quartets. He has recorded many concertos and has had works written for him by Britten, Hindemith and Matyas Seiber. JEAN POUGNET, born of a musical family, received his first musical education from his sister at the age of 5. He entered the R.A.M. at the age of 11. His. first Wigmore Hall recital was given when he was 15 and the following year he made his first appearance at a Promenade Concert. Later with Primrose and Pini he formed the London String Trio. In 1942 he became the leader of the London Philharmonic Orchestra but resigned three years later in order to devote himself to solo playing and chamber music. He has given concerts throughout Europe. WILFRID PARRY studied at the Trinity College of Music, where he won the gold medal and was awarded a Fellowship. He is well known for the versatile nature of his work, which includes concertos, recitals and chamber music. During the war he was a Royal Artillery officer. He is married to Eileen Grainger, the viola player in the Martin String Quartet.

THE HUDDERSFIELD MUSIC CLUB MAYOR'S RECEPTION ROOM, TOWN HALL 26th November- THE STROSS STRING Monday evenings at 7-30 QUARTET Quartet in A minor Op. 29 Schubert Quartet No. 3 in C major Op. 22 Hindemith Quartet in E flat major Op. 127 Beethoven (This concert will be recorded by the B.B.C. for broadcasting) 14th January. 4th February. 18th March. THE PARREN IN STRING QUARTET NUMA LIBIN (Song Recital) PAUL BADURA-SKODA (Piano Recital) Single Tickets 7/6 from Woods', 67 New Street and at the door THE HALIFAX PHILHARMONIC SOCIETY LECTURE HALL OF THE HALIFAX LITERARY AND PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY HARRISON ROAD Friday evenings at 7-30 30th November- THE GRILLER STRING QUARTET Haydn Bloch Milhaud Mozart Quartet in D minor Op. 76 No. 2 Quartet No. 4 Quartet No. 1 Quartet in A major K. 464 (This concert will be recorded by the B.B.C. for broadcasting) Single Tickets 7/6 may be obtained from David Dugdale, Esq., 291 Willowfield Road, Halifax THE HUDDERSFIELD THESPIANS ST. PATRICK'S HALL, 19th to 24th NOVEMBER "UNCLE MARTINO" by Victor Rietti Tickets 3/6 and 2/- from Woods, 67 New Street

THE HUDDERSFIELD MUSIC CLUB President A. L. Woodhead, Esq., M.A., J.P. (The National Federation of Music Societies to which this Society is affiliated, supports these Concerts with funds provided by the Arts Council of Great Britain) MAYOR'S RECEPTION ROOM, TOWN HALL MONDAY, 26th NOVEMBER, 1956 at 7-30 p.m. THE STROSS STRING QUARTET WILHELM STROSS (Violin) KURT CHRISTIAN STIER (Violin) VALENTIN HAERTL (Viola) RUDOLPH METZMACHER 100 (Cello) Programme: Price Sixpence

Progra rogram me The analytical notes in this programme are the copyright of the Huddersfield Music Club Quartet in A minor Op. 29. I Allegro ma non troppo Andante Menuetto-Allegretto Allegro moderato (Last performed in 1947 by the Hungarian String Quartet) Schubert (1797-1828) This beautiful and intensely personal Quartet in A minor has been described as one of the most characteristic works of any composer. It is a mature work, written in 1824, and first appearing in 1825. It was, in fact, his only quartet to be published in Schubert's lifetime. Up to the year 1817 Schubert had written 12 string quartets, but these were youthful works, intended mainly for home practice. Between that year and 1824 Schubert produced no string quartet with the exception of a quartet movement in C minor (1820), which belongs to an entirely different category from the early works and which leads directly to the final and great quartets. In 1824, after a period of mental depression, illness and poverty, Schubert went with the Esterhazy family to their home at Zselsy in Hungary; there, too, was Catherine Esterhazy, the youngest daughter of the house, who is said to have inspired Schubert's tenderest feelings. It is probably right to suppose that this quartet was inspired by this visit or by its immediate influence; certainly it is steeped in the Hungarian spirit. Quartet No. 3 Op. 22 In the magical first movement the dreamy melody of the first violin soars above the throb- bing accompaniment of the viola and cello and the swaying line of the second violin; as Haddow says, "the rhythm stirs and quivers round the melody like the voices of the forest round the nightingale." In this movement, too, as throughout the quartet, there is a continual striving towards the major from the minor key. For the Andante Schubert used a motive from the Ballet music "Rosamunde", each repetition of the motive gaining in intensity and expressiveness. The Minuet, with its surprising changes of key and the expressive and deeply personal feeling of the melody, is, in spite of its apparent simplicity, one of Schubert's most inspired movements. It opens with a referenue to Schubert's setting of Schiller's hymn or elegy to the vanished and happy world of the gods of Greece. In the treatment of this theme Einstein sees yet another example of Schubert's use of the theme of a song in an instrumental work in order to give full expression to something at which he could only hint in a song, which was both inspired and restricted by its text. The Trio might be called a Ländler. The Finale, with one of its main themes similar to that in another work (the Divertimento à la Hongroise), richly coloured by the Hungarian spirit, brings the work to a warm, temperamental conclusion: II Hindemith (b. 1895) Fugato Sehr energisch Stets fliessend Mässig Rondo. Gemächlich und mit Grazie (Last performed in 1939 by the Budapest String Quartet) Hindemith is one of the best-known and most prolific of composers in modern Germany. He was born at Hanau (South Germany) and studied at Frankfort. From 1915-23 he first led and then conducted the Frankfort Opera. He later joined the Amar Quartet as the viola player. He is a very fine player of that instrument, a fact which is reflected in the viola parts of his compositions. He has also played percussion instruments; he is a good pianist and a clarinet player. Hindemith is a rapid and facile writer and his output is remarkable. He has experimented in many styles including atonality and polytonality, but from 1925 the "back to Bach" movement has predominated. He has even not disdained a cabaret type of art, and he has evidently found inspiration in the modern age of machinery and materialism. His music has humour, vitality and rhythm but little sentiment, though some of his later work is said to show an erotic tendency. He has been much attracted by chamber music or works for chamber orchestra.

This quartet received its first performance by the Amar Quartet at the Donaueschingen Festival in 1922. It consists of five rather short movements. The first is a Fugato (atonal), mostly in slow tempo, very free and modern. This movement leads directly to the second; this is, in effect, a Scherzo, brutally powerful, with notable unison passages and markedly erratic rhythms. The third movement, described as "continually flowing", is a complete contrast, being quiet, smooth and muted throughout. The fourth is again quick and vigorous; it opens with a long solo for the cello, which. with the viola added, returns towards the close. This movement suggests a prelude which leads directly to the last movement. This is called a Rondo; it opens in a polyphonic style which becomes less marked in the centre section. The direction is that it is to be played "easily and with grace". Interval of ten minutes III Quartet in E flat major Op. 127. Beethoven (1770-1827) Maestoso-Allegro Adagio ma non troppo e molto cantabile Scherzo. Vivace Finale (Last performed in 1953 by the Vegh String Quartet) This quartet was written in 1824, some 14 years after the previous quartet Op. 95. After this long interval and within the space of four years, Beethoven poured out all the wealth of his last six quartets. The quartets Op. 127, 130 and 132 were all commissioned and dedicated to Prince Galitzin. Of these six quartets only Op. 127 and 135 have the usual four-movement plan. D'Indy sees it This quartet is perhaps the easiest of the last six to understand. to be full of the love of nature which Beethoven showed throughout his life; he calls it "the last of the pastoral symphonies". The first movement is in regular sonata form. It opens with a short and emphatic introduction, which re-introduces the first theme at every appearance; the Coda is founded upon the concluding falling notes of the main theme. The Adagio is a set of 5 variations based very freely upon a gently falling theme "of incomparable beauty". This theme has reminded many listeners of the great phrase of the Benedictus from the Mass in D; D'Indy calls it the most sublime of prayers. The variations are hardly variations in the usual sense of the term; they are, rather, meditations upon, and trans- figurations of the theme, leading it to ever greater heights of inspiration. The Scherzo, with its Trio section, is one of Beethoven's richest; some find it a riddle with its alternating wild humour and strange eeriness. The Finale, again in sonata form, brings back the pastoral element. THE STROSS STRING QUARTET was founded 25 years ago and has achieved world-wide fame. As well as being deeply interested in the per- formance of contemporary works, the Quartet represents today the purest classical style in the art of interpretation. After the first world war the Stross Quartet had the honour of being the first to replace the entire Beethoven cycle in their repertoire. Wilhelm Stross studied at the Bram Elderlings Violin Academy where Adolf Busch was a student; later he studied in Berlin with Carl Flesch. He has appeared as a solo violinist with the greatest conductors and orchestras. When 20 he won the Mendelssohn Prize and at 26 he was appointed professor at the Akademi der Tonkunst in Munich. Kurt Christian Stier comes from Stross's Master Class; Valentin Haertl has been with the Quartet from its inception; Rudolph Metzmacher has been a member of the Quartet for 16 years.

THE HUDDERSFIELD MAYOR'S RECEPTION ROOM, TOWN HALL 14th January- THE PARRENIN STRING MUSIC CLUB Quartet in G major K. 387 Quartet in A minor Op. 41 No. 1 Quartet in G minor Op. 10 4th February. 18th March. Monday evenings at 7-30 QUARTET Mozart Schumann Debussy NUMA LIBIN (Song Recital) PAUL BADURA-SKODA (Piano Recital) Single Tickets 7/6 from Woods', 67 New Street and at the door THE HALIFAX PHILHARMONIC SOCIETY. LECTURE HALL OF THE HALIFAX LITERARY AND PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY HARRISON ROAD Friday evenings at 7-30 30th November- THE GRILLER STRING QUARTET Quartet in D minor Op. 76 No. 2 Quartet No. 4 Quartet No. 1 Quartet in A major K. 464 (This concert will be recorded by the B.B.C. for broadcasting) Single Tickets 7/6 may be obtained from David Dugdale, Esq., 291 Willowfield Road, Halifax Haydn Bloch Milhaud Mozart THE HUDDERSFIELD THESPIANS ST. PATRICK'S HALL, 14th to 19th JANUARY "EVER SINCE PARADISE" by J. B. Priestley Tickets: 3/6 and 2/- from Woods, 67 New Street

THE HUDDERSFIELD MUSIC CLUB President A. L. Woodhead, Esq., M.A., J.P. (The National Federation of Music Societies to which this Society is affiliated, supports these Concerts with funds provided by the Arts Council of Great Britain) MAYOR'S RECEPTION ROOM, TOWN HALL MONDAY, 14th JANUARY, 1957 at 7-30 p.m. THE PARRENIN STRING QUARTET JACQUES PARRENIN (Violin) MARCEL CHARPENTIER (Violin) al SERGE COLLOT (Viola) PIERRE PENASSOU (Cello) Programme: Price Sixpence

Progra ramme The analytical notes in this programme are the copyright of the Huddersfield Music Club Quartet in G major K. 387 I Allegro vivace assai Menuetto. Trio Andante cantabile Molto allegro (Last performed in 1923 by the Catterall String Quartet) Mozart's 25 string quartets can be divided into two sharply defined groups. The first group, containing 15 quartets all dating from the early 1770's, can be further subdivided into three sections. The first consists of three quartets, written in Salzburg and described on the manuscript as "divertimenti". The description is not accurate as, for example, a divertimento should have two minuets and these have none; they are, rather, symphonies for strings showing much Italian influence. The second section, written in Italy, show a great advance and are much nearer chamber music in the true sense of the term. The third set were written in Vienna, where Mozart had met Haydn, and these quartets show most definitely Haydn's influence. After a lapse of nine years the second group-the 10 "great" quartets-began to appear in 1782. The first six were dedicated "to his dear friend Haydn". But now "Mozart had completely found himself; scarcely any works of his are more personal than these three quartets. This time he learned as a master from a master; he did not imitate; he yielded nothing of his own personality". (Einstein). Quartet in A minor Op. 41 No. 1 The quartet to be played tonight is the first of the set. The first movement, in sonata form, opens with a cheerful and robust subject, which later has touches of what Einstein calls Mozart's uncanny concealed chromaticism, all the instruments now play an equally important part. The closely-spaced second subject has more grace and delicacy. The Minuet, based upon a strongly accented ascending scale passage, opens in an almost fugal style. The Andante has much graceful figuration particularly for the first violin. The brilliant Finale begins as a strict fugue, and yet the movement is cast in sonata form. The chromatic passage of the minuet reappears in the development section and the coda. The swiftness and gaiety of the tempo conceals much of the elaborate and intricate workmanship. 9 Mozart (1756-1791) II Introduction. Allegro Scherzo. Intermezzo Adagio Presto 99 (Last performed in 1936 by the Lener String Quartet) had The year 1842 was in Schumann's life rich in the composition of chamber music; it saw the appearance of the three quartets of Op. 41, the piano quartet Op. 42, the piano quintet Op. 44 and the piano trio Op. 88. Though Schumann came to the composition of chamber music as a mature artist, from his youth he had been deeply interested in it and the intention to write it had long been in his mind. As early as 1838 he wrote to Clara Wieck, "The pianoforte has become too limited for me and goes on to tell her that he is working at string quartets. These two early works, however, never appeared. "It was Schumann's good fortune that he was not irresistably drawn towards chamber music till he reached the chamber music state of mind. His inspiration had not weakened, but had gained in strength and depth. His knowledge and command of technical means were more secure and more supple than ever before. He was better equipped in the technique of composition, in contrapuntal skill and judgement in part-writing, in the knowledge of structure and the feeling for form. Schumann's chamber music of 1842 is in many ways among the most perfect of all the products of his genius; the purest and most powerful in its beauty, the strongest in its form, best balanced in its substance and best adapted in its technical means and processes to the expression of the composer's thought. There is, in fact, little in Schumann's greatest chamber music that seems tentative, experimental or uncertain in touch. He entered, to all appearances, full-fledged and confident upon the difficult and problematical art of chamber music-the string quartet". (Richard Aldrich). One criticism might be levelled-there are definite traces of a piano style in the writing for strings, but that, too, has given rise to many new and lovely effects. Early in 1842 Schumann prepared himself by a deep study and a thorough re-examination of the quartets of Mozart and Beethoven. Once the actual composition was started the three quartets were rapidly finished in little over a month. All three were dedicated to Mendelssohn, and achieved an immediate success. Many consider that this quartet (A minor) is the most original and beautiful of the three, full of richness and poetry. Schumann (1810-1856)

The first movement opens with an extended slow introduction, originally marked to be played with mutes. There is much contrapuntual writing, especially constant imitations between the four instruments. The main theme is a smooth, flowing melody in 6/8 time. It is followed by a theme (B flat) played by the viola, which forms the basis of a first fugato; a second follows, founded upon the main theme. The development uses the material already heard, with a notable freedom of modulation. The Scherzo (A minor) is again in 6/8 time, and has for its middle section a smooth, sustained Intermezzo in alla breve time. The Adagio (F major) is typical of Schumann, the writer of songs. After three bars of introduction, the violin starts a long and flowing melody, which is later taken up by the cello; a more agitated section follows and a return to the introduction closes the movement. The Finale is again in alla breve time and in A minor. The main theme is powerful and rhythmic. It is followed by two subsidiary themes; one, a theme in ascending steps in thirds and second a strong chordal theme combined with it. These form the material of the developement. The main theme returns, interrupted by a quaint "musette"; a short coda brings the work to a brilliant conclusion. Interval of ten minutes. Quartet in G minor Op. 10 No. 1 III Debussy (1862-1918) Animé et très décidé Assex vif et bien rythmé Andantino doucement expressif Tres modéré (Last performed in 1954 by the Vegh String Quartet) Claude Debussy, perhaps the most influential French composer of his generation, sprang from a family of no particular musical talent. After a conventional training, he settled down to a retired life of composition, never holding any official appointment and rarely appearing in public. His work can roughly be divided into three periods; the first, a period of immaturity lasting up to about 1890, then some 20 years of mature work and a few final years of declining health and activity. His early work showed traces of influence, but he soon evolved a style and process of thought entirely his own. No composer ever had a keener or more subtle feeling for beauty, colour, poetic suggestiveness and atmosphere; added to these went a perfect genius for craftmanship. This quartet-his only composition in that form-was written in 1893, the first part of his finest period. In it Debussy uses the "cyclic principle". The gay and rhythmic first movement opens with the motto of the whole work. The theme of the Scherzo-a movement of pure fantasy-is directly derived from that motto. The third movement is a dreamy Nocturne; and the final movement again brings in the theme. But apart from details of its construction, the quartet is a work of sheer, elusive beauty; it "moves like a young fawn, spins the gayest, most siken, most golden of spider-webs; fills one with the delights of taste and smell and sight and touch." (Rosenfeld). THE PARRENIN QUARTET was formed in 1944 by four friends from the Conservatoire of Paris on the initiative of Jacques Parrenin; the quartet has remained intact since it was first formed. Once they had received their first prizes from the Conservatoire and had completed their military service, the players decided to devote themselves to the life of a String Quartet. Working daily over a period of four years and playing a weekly concert over Radio Luxemburgh, they disciplined themselves severely before making their debut in Paris in 1948. Although the youngest quartet in France, the critics immediately placed them on a level with the most renowned Quartets of international reputation. In the 1955 season they further enhanced their reputation by playing all the Beethoven quartets; in 1955 their playing of the 6 Bartok quartets in Paris was one of the events of the season. They are adding continually to their repertoire which now numbers more than 100 works. JACQUES PARRENIN was born in 1919 in Tunisia. His father, an officer of the marines, was an enthusiastic amateur pianist; his mother was a violinist. He studied under Calvet. He has lived in Paris since 1949, where he and the other members of the Quartet were given a home by the Conservatoire in order to work without interruption. MARCEL CHARPENTIER was born in 1924. From an early age he studied the violin with his parents, both musicians. He was in the Alpine Ski Army during the war and fought in Italy. SERGE COLLOT was born in Paris in 1923. His father was a wood carver and his mother a secretary at a Paris theatre. He served in the Liberation Army; he has written much music for the theatre. PIERRE PENASSOU was born in Paris in 1924; his father was French and his mother Roumanian. He joined the army as a double-bass and cymbal player.

THE HUDDERSFIELD MUSIC CLUB MAYOR'S RECEPTION ROOM, Town Hall Monday evenings at 7-30 4th February. NUMA LIBIN (Song Recital) At the piano-Barrie Hall Seven Spanish Songs De Falla Le Bestaire Poulenc Folk Song Settings Britten Songs by Lully, Rameau, Vivaldi, Handel, Mozart and Wolf 18th March. PAUL BADURA-SKODA (Piano Recital) Single Tickets 7/6 from Woods', 67 New Street and at the door THE HALIFAX PHILHARMONIC SOCIETY LECTURE HALL OF THE HALIFAX LITERARY AND PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY HARRISON ROAD Friday evenings at 7-30 18th January THE PARRENIN STRING QUARTET Quartet in B flat K. 458 Quartet Op. 45 Variations for String Quartet. Quartet in A minor Op. 41 No. 1 Mozart Roussel Martinet Schumann Single Tickets 7/6 may be obtained from David Dugdale, Esq., 291 Willowfield Road, Halifax THE HUDDERSFIELD THESPIANS ST. PATRICK'S HALL, 14th to 19th JANUARY "EVER SINCE PARADISE" by J. B. Priestley Tickets 3/6 and 2/- from Woods, 67 New Street

THE HUDDERSFIELD MUSIC CLUB A. L. Woodhead, Esq., M.A., J.P. (The National Federation of Music Societies to which this Society is affiliated, supports these Concerts with funds provided by the Arts Council of Great Britain) President MAYOR'S RECEPTION ROOM, TOWN HALL MONDAY, 18th MARCH, 1957 at 7-30 p.m. PAUL BADURA-SKODA (Piano Recital) al Programme: Price Sixpence

Progra rogramme The analytical notes in this programme are the copyright of the Huddersfield Music Club I Sonata in D major K. 576 Allegro Adagio Allegretto (Last performed in 1951 by Nina Milkina) In his book on Mozart, Einstein emphasises the fact that Mozart conceived a complete work as a whole; that with him a sonata, a quartet or a symphony is a work not constructed out of several individual movements, but a unity held together by means of a hidden logic; that there are no instances of his exchanging movements as Beethoven did, or of his taking a movement out of a work and sending it alone into the world. The sole exception of a "solitary movement" is the D major Minuet K. 355, which Einstein suggests might well have been conceived as the third movement of this sonata. Mozart (1756-1791) Apart from the hidden logic unifying the whole, Einstein continues: "The mystery of mysteries in Mozart's instrumental works, however, is the unity of the individual movements- what Leopold called il filo, the "thread", the succession and connection of the idea...idea springs from idea...no one can fathom how one melodic blossom is connected with another. Yet everyone will feel this naturalness and necessity, and the inevitability of their growth". The "filo" existed in Mozart's head before he put pen to paper; "all witnesses of Mozart at work agree that he put a composition down on paper as one writes a letter, without allowing any disturbance or interruption to annoy him-the writing, the "fixing", was nothing more than the fixing of the complete work, a mechanical act. This Sonata (dated 1789) was the last that Mozart wrote. In the spring of that year Mozart had been in North Germany. "He had in mind 6 quartets for the King (of Prussia) and 6 easy clavier sonatas for the King's eldest daughter. But we know that only three of the quartets were actually written-appearing only a few days before Mozart's death-so this was the only one of the piano sonatas actually composed, and it never reached the person for whom it was intended, but was printed posthumously. It is anything but "easy". In fact it is conspicuously contrapuntal, full of duet-like oppositions that recall Johann Sebastian, in which one might see a creative acknowledgement to the great master to whom Mozart, passing through Leipzig, had been very close." (Einstein). The form of the movements is very clear. The first movement is in regular sonata-form. The main theme is based upon an arpeggio arrangement of the tonic chord; it is immediately followed by a similar chord in another key. This was a typical device in the works of this period. The beautiful slow movement (A major; main theme, contrasting section linked to the return) has much decorative figuration and rich chromatic colouring. The finale is a rondo, the main theme having contrasting episodes mainly based on brilliant triplet passages. Sonata in C major Op. 111. II Beethoven (1770-1827) Maestoso-Allegro con brio ed appassionato Arietta. Adagio molto semplice e cantabile (Last performed in 1950 by Franz Osborn) This titanic sonata is the last of the 32 piano sonatas and by many it is considered to be the most perfect work of its kind. It was written in 1821-22 immediately after the Sonatas Opp. 109 and 110 and only five years before Beethoven's death. The Sonata has only two movements. In itself this two-movement form in a late Beethoven sonata is not surprising, but what astonished contempory musicians was the fact that the work ended with an Adagio. Now we realize that not only was the conventional finale not required, but that it would have been definitely antagonistic to the character of the piece, already complete in itself. Lenz has described the moods of the two movements as Resistance-Submission or Sansara-Nirvana; which titles, however, through giving an approximate idea of the underlying sentiments, are not universally accepted especially in the case of the second movement, which appears to contain a much more vital and positive meaning. The first movement has a short Introduction of majestic proportions, indicating at once the vastness of the conflict. The opening chord is the most agonized dissonance in Beethoven's musical vocabulary. It is followed by stately chords fading into a deep rumble in the bass, which is interrupted by the dramatic appearance of the principal subject. This continues in thundering octave passages, and after tremendous melodic leaps, the gentler second subject enters. The conflict breaks out again and continues until the key becomes that of C major and the turmoil sinks into low mutterings in the bass. According to von Bülow, the second movement in C major should follow without inter- ruption. It is an Arrietta with five variations. These are not variations in the usual meaning of the term for each is indivisable from the next and the whole impression is one of consecutiveness and organic growth. The song itself is serene and noble, marked to be played with much simplicity. Upon this material a movement is built up which takes the listener far from the original simplicity of the theme, through the utmost subtleties of rhythm, into ideal heights of spirituality. Finally comes a long series of trills, through which snatches of the theme are heard; a brief reference to the opening brings the movement- and the Sonata-to its perfect close.

Interval of ten minutes Scherzo No 1 in B minor Sonata in B flat minor Op. 35 III Grave-Doppio movimento Scherzo Marche funèbre Presto Chopin (1810-1849) (Last performed in 1939 by Louis Kentner) Chopin wrote three piano sonatas; the first, written when he was 18 and not published till after his death, may largely be disregarded and the Sonatas Opp. 35 and 58 taken as Chopin's contribution to that form. Many critics have declared that Chopin was incapable of writing a sonata. Schumann wrote of his caprice and his wantonness and insinuated that Chopin (in this sonata) had bound together four of his maddest children and entitled them sonata. Chopin's sonatas certainly do not conform to the classical conception, but the independance and unconventionality of his musical imagination, the poetry of his genius and the richness of his inspiration gave a new and vivid aspect to the form. The whole sonata is built round the third movement-the funeral march. "The first and second movements lead up to this March; they are stormy and heroic episodes of a drama which culminates in a vision of death. The brief fourth movement forms a sinister epilogue to the story." Certainly the March was written first, probably in Majorca in 1838. In a letter from Nohant in 1839 Chopin remarked that he was then adding the remaining movements. The work opens with a four-bar introduction which leads into the breathless main theme. The tender and exquisite second subject is in D flat major; this is followed by a more buoyant third theme. The development makes great use of the main subject, which is omitted in the recapitulation; this starts with the second subject, in the tonic key. The Scherzo is one of the most powerful of the movements. Niecks says it has a gloom and a threatening power which rises to a higher and higher pitch, becoming quite weird and fear-inspiring. The middle section is in complete contrast. The final movement-75 bars of rushing triplets in octaves-is one of the most curious in all music. Schumann says: "The last movement is more like mockery than music, and yet one confesses to one's self that also out of this unmelodious and joyless movement a peculiar dismal spirit breathes upon us, who keeps down with a strong hand that which would revolt, so that we obey, as if we were charmed, without murmuring, but also without praising, for that is no music. the sonata concludes, as it began, enigmatically, like a sphinx with a mocking smile". Thus Nocturne in D flat major Op. 27 No 2 Two Waltzes (1) A flat major Op. 34 No 1 (II) D flat major Op. 64 No 1 PAUL BADURA-SKODA was born in Vienna in 1928, where he had his first lessons at the age of 6. In 1939 he became a pupil of Professor Thern. Originally he had wanted to become an engineer as he showed definite talent for mathematics, physics and drawing. He finally decided on a musical career when he was 16. Owing to the war he did not commence his studies at the Conservatoire till 1945. During 1948-9 he studied under Edwin Fischer. His concert activities began in 1948 and he soon attracted the attention of such conductors as Furtwängler and von Karajan. In 1950 he played at the Bach Festival in Vienna and at Saltzburgh. He made his London debut in 1951 and already has achieved world-wide successes.

THE HUDDERSFIELD MUSIC CLUB Continuing their policy of presenting only Concerts of outstanding quality, the Committee are now negotiating with the following artists: the Vegh, Amadeus and Madrid String Quartets, Nina Milkina and Numa Libin. The Committee would like to emphasise once again that to ensure the continuance of the unique concerts an increased membership is essential. THE HUDDERSFIELD THESPIANS ST. PATRICK'S HALL, 8th APRIL to 13th APRIL Bell, Book and Candle By John van Druten Tickets 3/6 and 2/- from Woods, 67 New Street