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Programme Notes

PC Exam

2009/5/23

Candidate No. 000286:08858097 Candidate

Name: Cheung Wai Ting

Programme Notes

2009年 5月 23日

1. Prelude and Fugue in G, BWV 860

J S BACH

As a court organist and concertmaster in the chapel of the Duke of Weimar for almost ten years, JS Bach produced lots of organ works or keyboard works. This BWV860 is from Well-Tempered Clavier 1, the Bach’s 48 Preludes and Fugues.

The Toccata-like prelude bears the marks of Bach's early, north German-influenced style, while the fugue could be considered a later product of Bach's maturity.

The fugue is in 6/8 time, unlike the prelude, which is in 24/16 time. The prelude starts out with a long flurry of intricate arpeggios in G major, basing on a chorale melody. The fugue is in rondo from.

As a typical Baroque keyboard music, the piece is written for organ, thus the piece is contrapuntal or call it polyphonic, having few equally important melodic lines weave along at the same time which actually woven from one theme entering successively in imitation. The song was being cut into episodes. The first subject (leading motif) was entered by the solo of right hand at the very beginning, say soprano part, and then imitate to alto part and tenor part correspondingly in different pitch. The third subject actually is the inversion of the first subject. The three voices are tracing each other throughout the fugue as they enter with the subject. The development was heard as the subjects enter in G minor.

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Programme Notes

2009年 5月 23日

2.Rondo in C, op.51 no.1

BEETHOVEN

The piece offer exciting possibilities. In dynamics, sudden contrasts between soft and loud can be heard, like the appeal of sforzando (sf), fp, fortissimo (ff) and pianissimo (pp). The sounds were further made to grow gradually louder or softer. Contrasts were also be made by varying the texture, like alternating use of legato and staccato. Tempo was varied sometimes due to the use of ritardando (rit.) and fermata. Even the moods were under contrast, where you can hear the mood change in the middle part of the song.

This is a light music and is a typical homophonic song in general; the melody is usually, but not always, at the top of the texture. Besides the chordal accompaniment, the Alberti bass was also used to keep the music moving while outlining harmonies to support the melody. Alberti bass was adapted by Haydn and Mozart, but Beethoven made it richer, more sonorous and powerful. Besides, the phrases were clearly cut. Moreover, many additional ornaments were used to decorate the melody, for examples, many turns were used in the piece, and a few fast flowing chromatic scales are used to enrich the song.

Beethoven strides across two eras; he was the last of Classical composers and, at the same time, the first of Romantics. This piece also had a few elements from Romantic period. It presents two contrasting mood and it

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Programme Notes

2009年 5月 23日

designed in ternary form, which is often used in Romantic period’s music.

3.Fugue in G minor , K. 30

D Scarlatti

Fugue in G minor, K. 30, by D Scarlatti, is a one-movement harpsichord sonata popularly known as the Cat fugue. K. 30 was published in London in 1739.

The nickname, which wasn't introduced until early in the 19th century (and thus never use by the composer himself), originates from a story about how Scarlatti came up with the strikingly unusual motif on which the fugue is built. Legend has it that Scarlatti had a pet cat called Pulcinella, who was described by the composer to enjoy walking across the keyboard, always curious about its sounds. On one occasion, according to the story, Scarlatti wrote down a phrase from one of these "improvisation sessions", and used it as a lead motif in a fugue.

The subject has entered the piece for 16 times, imitating by soprano part and tenor part only. Sometimes the subject repeated in octave form, or in a 2-notes-chord, for example, a minor third, or in different pitch. Besides, the final cadence of the piece having Tierce de Picardie effect, as it ends in Picardy third, sounding like light after darkness.

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Programme Notes

2009年 5月 23日

4. 3 Intermezzos Op. 117 no.1

BRAHMSThe 3 Intermezzos Op. 117 was composed in 1892 and was first published as Drei Intermezzi. On a smaller and more intimate scale than the surrounding sets of Op. 116, Op. 118 and Op. 119, Brahms described these pieces as "lullabies to my sorrows". Here we find Brahms at his most tender and introspective, with only one outburst (in the third Intermezzo) of the characteristic ‘’Brahmsian fieriness’’. The Intermezzos were inspired by a Scottish poem from Herder's Volkslieder, sung by an unhappy mother whose lover has deserted herself and their child.

At the end of Brahms’s life, he wrote these 4 sets of piano music containing 20 pieces. His family members were gone; and he didn’t have any more idea in composing music. It can be imagined that he was very lonely and miserable when writing this piece. And finally this is the last composition of piano music from Brahms.

The Eb intermezzo is in a very slow speed and has a song-like melody. The numbers of notes in chords were obviously increased in this song, by using the sustaining pedal, the song sounds much denser and resulting in a richer harmony. At the opening, the melody in higher pitch stands out clearly and evenly from the surrounding chords. Then the melody shifts from an inner to an outer part. The arpeggios appeared are so often in Brahms’s music. As a typical romantic piece, pedaling and dynamic

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Programme Notes

2009年 5月 23日

changes are often used. Besides, the mood was changed to tragic in the middle section, following by a return of the subject. The whole piece was ended in a very silent and expressive way, sounds dreamy, which may be comprehended that how lonesome he was at the end of life.

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