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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