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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.

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Programme Notes
2009 年 5 月 23 日

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.

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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

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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


BRAHMS
The 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

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Programme Notes
2009 年 5 月 23 日

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

changes are often used. Besides, the mood was changed

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Programme Notes
2009 年 5 月 23 日

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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