KRAUS-PIKLER. RECITAL

Press, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 25249, 30 July 1947, Page 9

KRAUS-PIKLER. RECITAL

Lili Kraus and Robert Pikler enthralled the large audience in the Canterbury College Hall last evening with their superb playing of four of Beethoven’s sonatas. The programme consisted of the Second, Op. 12 in A major, the Fifth, Op. 24 in F major, the fourth, Op. 23 in A minor, and the Tenth in G major, Op. 96. As the above opus numbers will show, the recital covered the. scope of Beethoven’s musical development, or very nearly so. The tenth sonata was written in the same year as the seventh and eighth symphonies; of his greatest works there remained to follow seven only of the pianoforte sonatas, the Choral Symphony, the Mass in D, and the- last string quartets. The playing of the two artists was in keeping with the evolution of the music. It faithfully reproduced Beethoven’s meaning at all times, without any straining for effect. The phrasing, the attention to nuance, the tone of both instruments were always a delight to the listener and served the music fully. When one says of the Second Sonata in A major that it reflects the influence of Haydn and Mozart this does not cast any aspersion on the greatness of those two composers. It refers to style and treatment of thematic material. Beethoven, although at all times of fiercely independent spirit, somewhat naturally wrote his first compositions very much in the style of his immediate predecessors. These were mighty men; there t were giants in those- days. But their style was suited to the salons of their princely patrons. Beethoven brought music put of the salon into the open air, away into the country and to the topmost alps. Except in the last string quartets he kept faithfully within the forms which were rooted deeply in the life of music, but he expanded those forms to suit the requirements of his ever-extending thoughts. In Second Sonata there is little use of episode. The first subject with its antiphonally questioning figure flows naturally into the lyrical second subject. However, in the Tenth Sonata episodic material is of practically the same importance as the main themes. The lovely second movement of the A major Shows, as do most of his.slovf movements, the great depth of his mind and musical perception, and there was glorious playing here. Beethoven’s departure from the conventions of his time ate clearly to be seen arid felt in the Fourth and Fifth Sonatas. They belong to the open air and are far from the atmosphere of the court. The Fourth Sonata in A minor seems to foretell much that is so well known in the lovely Spring number five in F major. The graceful interweaving of melodies between the two instruments in the second subject of the first movement, which follows the dramatic fire of the first subject, suggests the atmosphere of the opening of the Spring Sonata. The couplet figure with its syncopated answering by the violin in the Andante Scherzoso—-it is interesting to note that there is no real slow movement in this sonata —foreshadows that amazing Scherzo in the Fifth. The Chorale-like interludes in the last movement are a further departure from the earlier strict forms, and suggest the refitative passages which are such a feature of the later compositions.

The Spring Sonata is one of those universally loved compositions. The first movement has a holiday feeling, far from the cares of daily*life. There is a quiet sylvan beauty in the second movement which seems to be enjoyed in solitude. Good companionshi seems essential to the first movement; the second is for personal meditation. That magnificent, dancing scherzo brings all together again in happy enjoyment of a wild country dance. The Finale is a return to the daily life, strengthened, refreshed, and renewed by the beauties of nature. It was played magnificently, and the message of the music rose spontaneously.

The Tenth Sonata, in G major, towers over the others like a high mountain above its foothills. It is a meditation of a profound, strong, and purified mind and is oftranscendental beauty. There is tremendous development of all the ideas in it, an evolving and fusing of mind and spirit. The recitative passages in the second movement take one back to Bach and forward to the philosophy of Beethoven’s last string quartets. Even the Scherzo is not boisterous—the thoughtful element still prevails. There is a marvellous recitative slow portion in the last movement and then a release of the full power derived from all that has gone before. There is in this sonata that nobility and strength in repose that one can see in Beethoven’s death mask.

The last of this series of recitals will be given at Canterbury College this evening. C.F.B.