Mannes Chamber Music: Ligeti, Beethoven and Haydn

Mannes offered the first in its series of chamber music recitals yesterday evening.  Together with those given by Juilliard, these provide an excellent evening's entertainment at no cost to the audience.

The Six Bagatelles for Wind Quintet (1953) by György Ligeti are derived from a larger group of twelve that were originally composed for piano.  All six pieces are short and most are rather spirited.  The exception is the second, the romantic rubato lamentoso.  These were early works written while Ligeti was still living in Hungary which was then part of the USSR. The Soviets imposed a great deal of censorship on musicians during this period, and in fact performance of the final bagatelle was banned by them as being "too dangerous."  After Ligeti fled to Vienna in 1956, two months after the failed Hungarian Revolution, the style of his music changed radically as he came under the influence of Karlheinz Stockhausen and Gottfried Michael Koenig and developed an interest in electronic music.

Beethoven's Cello Sonata No. 5 in D, Op. 102, No. 2 (1815) is most famous, along with its twin the Sonata No. 4 in C, for marking the beginning of the composer's "late" period during which he wrote his final and greatest works.  Although the No. 5 is more conventional than the No. 4 (subtitled the Free Sonata) in that it contains the traditional three movements rather than only two, the second movement marked Adagio con molto sentimento d’afetto is one of the most passionate slow movements that Beethoven ever wrote and anticipates the emotional impact of the late string quartets.

Haydn's String Quartet No. 61 in D minor, Op. 76, No. 2 (1796) is a relatively late work by the composer and forms part of his final set of six quartets.  It was written after his return to Vienna from London and is known as the Quinten for the falling fifths that open the work.  Its most distinguishing feature is its third movement marked Allegro ma non troppo that has been nicknamed the Hexenmenuett (Witches' Minuet) for the strange sounding melody that is played in duet by the two violins.