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HIS MASTER’S VOICE
SONATA IN B FLAT MINOR OP. 35 BALLADE N° 1 IN G MINOR OP. 23 NOCTURNE IN F SHARP OP. 15 N° 2
AU BORO D'UNE SOURCE HUNGARIAN RHAPSODY N° 6
LONG PLAY 3 R.P.M. RECORD
" . . Chopin (1810-1849)—SONATA No. 2 IN B FIAT MINOR, Op. 35 BALLADE No. 1 IN G MINOR, Op. 23 ALM 1 u 0 7 NOCTIIRNE IN F SHARP MAJOR, Op. 15, No. 2 1087
Liszt (18H-1886)—All BORO D’IINE SOIIRCE (Irom “Années de Pèlerinage”, lsl Year, No. I) HUNGARIAN RHAPSODY No. 6 IN 0 FIAT MAJOR
Chopin — Sonata No. 2 in B fiat minor It is strange that Schumann, in view of his wide sympathies
and, even more, of his own experiments in form and content,
should have taken Chopin to task for calling his Op. 35 a Sonata
on thè grounds that “ thè idea of calling this work a Sonata wàs
a caprice, if not a jest, for Chopin has simply bound together
four of his wildest children, to smuggle them under his name
into a place to which they could not else have penetrated”. It
seemed to Schumann that thè movements bore no relation to
one another and that thè last of them sounded “more like a
joke than a piece of music”. But a disturbing joke: for he goes
on to say, “yet we must confess that even from this joyless,
unmelodious movement, an originai, a terrible mind breathes
forth, thè preponderance of which annihilates resistance, so
that we listen, fascinated and uncomplainirig, to thè end—for
§ ^ this is not music. The Sonata begins enigmatically and closes
S< with a ironical smile —a sphinx”.
s Schumann is not alone in finding difficulty over thè Funeral
0 ® March. To him as to Mendelssohn, it had “repellent elements”;
g 3* we may, for our part, find it hard to hear it, in its proper
jS* | content, divorced from thè funeral processions of thè great.
Chopin composed it, some two years before thè remaining
g* *§ movements, as an independent piece — a fact which lends some
^ 5* point to Schumann’s criticism about its lack of relation to thè
« ^ preceding movements—but just as, as Tovey says, thè pro¬
sa g blems connected with Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony vanish if
^ we assume thè choral finale to be right, so does any imagined
a a' lack of relation between thè movements vanish in Chopin’s
jL g, work if we assume thè use of thè Funeral March to be right.
® Here are thè facts.
§ § In thè winter of 1838—9 George Sand persuaded Chopin, for
thè sake of his health, to go with her to Majorca where they had
expected to find warmth and sunshine. It soon, however, began
to rain incessantly, and when a rumour got about that Chopin
had tuberculosis thè fears, and even threats, of thè islanders
forced George Sand, with her two children, and Chopin to leave
their villa and take refuge in thè derelict Carthusian monastery
of Vallembrosa, up in thè hills.
In his damp celi, in this inhospitable place (a celi, he said,
shaped like a coffin) and with a worn out piano for much of thè
time, Chopin worked at thè Preludes, some of thè Nocturnes and
Polonaises, thè F major Ballade, thè C sharp minor Scherzo,
and thè B fiat minor Sonata. His health steadily deteriorated
and he became haunted, at night, with thoughts of death.
Yiewed in thè light of this harrowing experience it is surely
not strange that Chopin should have chosen to make his
Funeral March thè centre piece of an extended work predomi-
nately tragic in character.
SIDE I
Chopin — Sonata No, 2 in B fiat minor, Op, 35
Band I — First Movement — Grave —Doppio movimento Band 2 — Second Movement — Scherzo Band 3 — Third Movement — Marche funèbre Band 4— Fourth Movement — Finale (Presto)
SIDE 2
Band I — Chopin — Ballade No. I in G minor, Op. 23 Band 2 — Chopin — Nocturne in F sharp major,
Op. 15, No. 2 Band 3 — Liszt — Au bord d’une source
(from “Années de Pèlerinage ”, Ist Year, No. 4) Band 4—Liszt—Hungarian Rhapsody No. 6
in D fiat major (Groves No. 94)
FIRST MOVEMENT — Grave — Doppio movimento The four introductory bars of thè Grave utter a deep sigh
before committing thè music to thè agitated and broken figures
of thè first main theme. This theme rises restlessly up to a
climax and then falls to repeat itself with greater force (note,
at this repetition, thè accented second quaver of each figure and
thè differently phrased and more agitated bass) until it seems
to be beating desperately against pursuing fate. Then, with a
pause of only one beat, Chopin passes straight into his second
main theme, a lyrical tune full of thè sensuous warmth thè
composer had hoped to find on thè rain swept island. This
melody, again abruptly, leads into a nervously agitated passage
that culminates in a stretto, brought to a halt by two great
chords that usher in thè repeat.
The “ working-out ” section makes skilful use (especially in
its second half) of thè octave drop of thè grave and of thè broken
theme following, and it may not be fanciful to find in it echoes
of thè lyrical second theme. That lovely melody, after some
bars of thè stretto, now returns (as well as thè episode that had
followed it) but we only hear thè first main theme in thè bass
of thè brief coda.
SECOND MOVEMENT — Scherzo What tremendous reserves of nervous energy Chopin must
have conjured up, in his weak state, to write so splendid and
virile a Scherzo as this movement and, its only equal, thè C
sharp minor Scherzo, composed about thè same time. After its
great drive, whirlwind chromatics, and rhythmic variety, thè
exquisite melody of thè Trio falls on thè ear like a benediction.
With great art Chopin gradually tempers thè fury of thè Scherzo,
at thè recapitulation, to let thè Trio melody be thè last thing
heard in thè movement, bringing it to rest on a long held chord.
THIRD MOVEMENT — Marche funèbre The stark effect of thè March owes much to thè ostinato bars
of thè opening section and to thè bare fifths and fourths on thè
first and last beats of each bar, all this giving point to thè great
rising phrase of hope that succeeds and never fails to thrill thè
listener. If played with thè simplicity it calls for thè consolatory
effect of thè serene Trio cannot fail of effect, however “hack-
neyed” it may be thought.
FOURTH MOVEMENT — Presto “The left hand unisono with thè right hand are gossiping
after thè March. ” Such was Chopin’s ironical comment on this
terrifying movement, which is directed, but for one crescendo,
to be played sotto voce throughout. Many descriptions have
been given of it, such as “thè autumn wind whirling away thè
withered leaves over thè fresh grave” but thè best, perhaps, is
in Ashton Johnson’s 4 A Handbook to Chopin s Works’, where he
quotes thè following lines from Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s sonnet
sequence The House of Life!
“ The ground whirl of thè perished leaves of hope,
The wind of death’s imperishable wing.”
A detailed description of thè four shorter pieces which
complete this record is not necessary. They stili have a not
infrequent place in recital programmes, and are examples of
thè romantic school of composition of which both Chopin
and Liszt were outstanding exponents. The more severe
classical forms were giving place to a more poetic outlook ; and
as thè literature of thè period had become charged with
“romantic” feeling, so music became imbued with thè same
spirit. The pianoforte had become a flexible instrument offering
a fascinating field for thè development of neyv effects, and thè
composers of this period were not slow in taking up thè challenge.
Chopin’s four Ballades were said to have been suggested by
thè poems of his fellow countryman Mickiewicz, and contain
some of thè composer’s finest work. His Nocturnes are in a
form originated by thè Irish composer John Field, in which a
lyrical melody is accompanied by broken chords. The melody
is generally highly ornamented, and this example contains a
very lovely one, thè treatment foreshadowing thè later Berceuse.
Throughout both works thè feeling is one of great refinement.
Liszt was a virtuoso of phenomenal attainments, and his
piano music demands thè greatest dexterity. Au bord d’une
source is from thè first set of pieces called Années de Pèlerinage,
musical descriptions of Swiss scenes. In this piece a delightful
melody suggests thè bubbling and splashing of thè limpid
waters of a stream. Of thè Hungarian Rhapsodies, No. 6 is
remarkable for thè exciting octave passages which occupy
thè final pages.
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