The
Steinway Concerts 1999
David Ward
Popular Classics
Sunday 22 August 1999
David Ward, an eminent musician and pianist is highly acclaimed for his
Mozart playing, in concert and on recordings. He has performed all over
the United Kingdom and elsewhere is Europe as well as in America and
Australia. Mr. Ward is also a teacher and conductor. He is a
professor at the Royal College of Music in London. He teaches and lectures
on the staff of the Birmingham Conservatoire on the pianoforte and its
repertoire. He is also an examiner on the Board of the Royal Schools of
Music.
Programme Notes by David Ward
The music in this recital neatly falls into a period of fifty years, perhaps
the richest half century that classical music has known. The mature works of
Mozart and Haydn and the entire output of Beethoven and Schubert were produced
at this time and both the language and the content of music changed enormously.
One important aspect of the change has been clearly expressed by the conductor
and musicologist Nikolaus Harnoncourt: "I like to say that music prior to
1800 speaks, while subsequent music paints. The former music must be understood,
since anything that is spoken presupposed understanding. The latter affects us
by means of moods which need not be understood, because they should be
felt." As an example of this compare the G flat impromptu by Schubert with
the slow movement of the F major sonata by Mozart. In the former with its
beautiful melody and liquid accompaniment an atmosphere is created which can be
felt while in the latter, which also has a beautiful melody, there is more
variety of articulation which gives rise to understanding as in a great speech
from Shakespeare. This does not mean that there is no feeling in Mozart! Nothing
could be further from the truth - the feeling is presented in a different way.
It was not only the music that changed in the period between 1778 and 1828.
The keyboard instruments were also developing and growing in power and range.
The Mozart variations which open the recital could easily have been played on a
harpsichord with its brilliant tone and precise articulation. The sonata which
ends the programme was surely written with the relatively new 'fortepiano' in
mind. It covers a wide range of dynamic and many sudden changes which are not
possible on the harpsichord. In Beethoven's 'Pathetique' sonata we get the sense
of a composer pushing the instrument to its limit and trying to get every ounce
of expression out of it. This is the type of composition that forced the piano
makers to produce something bigger and more robust than the light and delicate
instruments which were generally available at the time. When Schubert wrote his
impromptus towards the end of hs short life, the piano had grown into quite a
powerful instrument, with six and a half octaves rather than the customary five
of Mozart's time. Often there were five or more pedals to produce some wonderful
changes of tone, dynamic and colour. However, even this instrument was nothing
like the modern Steinway which is being played this evening, It was not until
about 1870 that such an instrument was made with its large metal frame capable
of bearing the immense tension of the thick and heavy strings. The hammers are
now covered in layers of felt whereas they used to be covered in thin leather,
making a very different type of sound.
The question might be raised "Why go back to Mozart at the end of the
recital having moved forward, to Beethoven and Schubert?" The answer can be
provided by Schubert himself, who said this: "The magic notes of
Mozart's music gently haunt me. In the darkness of life they show a bright,
clear and lovely distance to which we aspire with confidence. Oh Mozart,
immortal Mozart, how many, how uncountably many revelations you bring to our
souls!"
The Patrons of Queen's Hall are pleased to welcome pianist
David Ward once more, he is now a long-standing friend of Queen's Hall and music
lovers in Trinidad. The School of Philosophy introduced Mr. Ward to us in
1996 and together we have been able to present this eminent musician in recitals
and master classes in 1996 and 1997 and a lecture seminar in 1998.
Trinidadians are an extraordinarily talents, music loving
people but it is quite difficult to access classical music in this
country. The Steinway Concert series presented by the Patrons of Queen's
Hall are steeping into this breach by offering these classical music programmes
performed by artists of the highest calibre.
We welcome you to the Hall tonight, we are grateful for your
support and we know that you will have a rich and rewarding experience.
Marlene Goddard
Chairman
Patrons of Queen's Hall
Programme
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart 1756-1791
12 Variations on 'Ah, vous dirais-je Maman'. 1778
Ludwig van Beethoven 1770-1827
Sonata in C minor, opus 13
'Pathetique'. 1798/9
Grave - allegro di molto e con brio
Adagio cantabile
Rondo
Allegro
Franz Peter Schubert 1797-1828
Impromptus in E flat and G flat, opus 90, nos 2 and 3. 1827
Allegro
Andante
W.A. Mozart
Sonata in F major. K.332. 1781-3
Allegro
Adagio
Allegro assai
