ATCL Recital in Piano

Centre: 286 Trinity Hong Kong Music Centre

Name of Candidate: Chow Sze Ching Cecilia
Examination:: ATCL Recital in Piano
Examination Session: Nov/Dec 2009
Candidate no: 000286:09191860
Reference no: 9520
Date: 25-Nov-2009 (Wed)
Time: 4:13 PM - 4:53 PM
Venue Address: Parsons Music, Exam Room, Shop No.5,
New Annex, Tai Yuen Shopping Centre, Tai Po.

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Program

Toccata in E minor BWV 914                                                 7’05’‘

J.S Bach (1685-1750) 

Sonata in C minor, Op. 10,  No.1                

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 - 1827)

Allegro molto e con brio 4’15’‘

Adagio molto 7’40’’

Finale:
Prestissimo 4’10’’

Intermezzo in A major, Op. 118, No. 2                            

Johannes Brahms (1833- 1897) 5’40’’

Visions Fugitives nos. 2, 11 and 14

Serge Prokofieff (1891 - 1953) 3’50’’

Total Time 31’60’’

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Toccata in E minor BWV 914                                                

J.S Bach (1685-1750) 

Johann Sebastian Bach was born in

Eisenach of Germany. Bach composed
seven toccatas (the word “toccata”
originated from the Italian word
“toccare”, meaning “to touch”), five of
which (BWV 912- 916) were part of
Bach’s early works written either
during or before his services in Weimar
(1708- 1717). The present toccata starts
off with a short but solemn
introduction. The ensuing Un Poco
Allegro is livelier. Being a double fugue in four voices, it
presents the two subjects simultaneously right at the start.
The expressive yet recitative-like Adagio is an unmissable
contrast to the previous sections, ending with a syncopated
yet perplexing chordal passage. The work concludes with a
spirited fugue. The violinistic subject is believed to have
been borrowed from an unidentified Italian composer,
whilst the episodes contain Bach’s own materials.(133)

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Sonata in C minor, Op. 10,  No.1                

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 - 1827)

Allegro molto e con brio

Adagio molto

Finale: Prestissimo

Ludwig van Beethoven was born

in the city of Bonn in Germany
into a musical family. His
compositions were divided into
three periods and the present
Sonata came from his first period. 

Dedicated to Countess von

Browne, the three piano sonatas of
Op. 10 were written between 1796
and 1797 and were published in
1798. Count von Browne, the
husband of the countess, was in
the Russian imperial service at Vienna and was a generous
patron to Beethoven. Beethoven even referred the couple as

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“the foremost Maecenas of my muse” in his other

dedication.

The key of C minor was used by Beethoven to express

courageous passion and sorrow. All three movements of
Op. 10 No. 1 were written in sonata form, though there is no
development section in the second movement. 

Allegro molto e con brio is passionate and dramatic,

contrasting the soaring first subject with the lively second
subject. A wide range of emotions and moods are touched
upon as the music progresses, including conflict, mystery
and peacefulness.

Written in the warm key of A-flat major, the poetic,

emotional Adagio molto shows much difference to the first
movement. The peaceful atmosphere is often disturbed by
matchless cadenza-like passages. This movement concludes
with a coda featuring wonderful harmonies and
syncopations. 

The finale, Prestissimo, is dominated by short upbeat

phrases and brutal expressions. There is a moment of
tranquility when the chorale-like second subject is
reached. The coda is highly surprising: starting in the

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wrong key of D-flat major with a slowing-down phrase

ending with a mysterious arpeggiated chord, the last phrase
bursts out in a thunder-like manner, though the work finally
dies away with a quiet conclusion. (284)

Intermezzo in A major, Op. 118, No. 2                            

Johannes Brahms (1833 - 1897) 

Johannes Brahms was born in the

slum district of Germany into a
musical family. His music was
structured with compositional
techniques of the Baroque and
Classical masters, J.S. Bach, Haydn
and Mozart particularly but adding his
own characteristics and making use of
new harmonic effects and tone
colours.

Op. 118, one of Brahms’ most notable

musical collections and his second last
composition, consists of four intermezzi, a ballad and a

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romanza. It was written in 1893 and dedicated to Clara

Schumann.

The current intermezzo, No.2 in A major. is in clear ternary

form, with the two outer sections almost identical. After an
introspective opening, the music moves on to a more
turmoil middle section in F# minor, where contrapuntal
writing – heritage from the Baroque period – is evident. The
music ends with a touch of remembrance. (137)

Visions Fugitives nos. 2, 11 and 14

Serge Prokofieff (1891 - 1953)

Prokofiev was a Russian/Soviet

composer-pianist who had lived in
the USA and Europe for some time
before moving back to his
homeland. Visions Fugitives
(Fleeting Visions) is a collection of 20
short evocative character pieces
written between 1915 and 1917. The
title, "Visions Fugitives" originated

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from a poem by the composer’s friend, the Russian

symbolic poet Konstantin Balmont: “In every fleeting vision
I see whole worlds full of the changing play of rainbow
colours.”

The three pieces selected for this programme vary greatly in

mood and character: a sense of crystalline coolness is
obvious in No.2 (Andante); No. 11 (Con vivacita) is impish-
like and high-spirited and No. 14 (Feroce), written in ternary
form, is energetic and flamboyant. (122)

(Total: 676 words)