Michael Houstoun performs
BEETHOVEN The Last Three Piano Sonatas Op.109, Op.110 & Op.111 RECORDED LIVE at the Gallagher Concert Chamber, WEL Energy Trust Academy of Performing Arts, Hamilton, NEW ZEALAND
Michael Houstoun performs Ludwig van BEETHOVEN The Last Three Piano Sonatas
s Sonata No.30 in E major, Op.109 19:59 1 Vivace ma non troppo – Adagio espressivo 3:55 2 Prestissimo 2:24 3 Andante molto cantabile ed espressivo 13:38 (Gesangvoll mit innigster Empfindung) Sonata No.31 in A-flat major, Op.110
20:20 6:46 2:12 3:49 7:33
Sonata No.32 in C minor, Op.111
29:40 9:17 20:23
4 Moderato cantabile molto espressivo 5 Allegro molto 6 Adagio ma non troppo 7 Fuga: Allegro ma non troppo 8 Maestoso – Allegro con brio ed appassionato 9 Arietta – Adagio molto semplice e cantabile
s An Interview with Michael Houstoun 40:03 1 Part 1 Last three piano sonatas as a programme 10:14 2 Part 2 The scores: the keys 8:05 3 Part 3 Expressive markings 8:01 4 Part 4 Transcendent Power 13:43
‘The Beethoven biographical literature contains many anecdotes about his tremendous improvisations at the piano. It seems he could not only make people laugh and cry, but could even dissolve grief and alleviate illness; such was the range and depth of his creative imagination and force of his personality. How much more then is the power manifested in his fully composed works where he has explored the gamut of musical options and eliminated all but the most telling? And how much again after a lifetime of such dedicated exploration? The last three of Beethoven’s piano sonatas contain some of the most powerful and sublime utterances to have issued from this greatest of creative geniuses. He shows us the suffering that is inevitable in life and with such force and understanding that the music acts as a catharsis. And he shows us that we contain a transcendent power, not just to enable us to rise above our suffering, but allow us to partake of the serene and ineffable Being that is at the very centre of all creation.’ Michael Houstoun, 2007
Ludwig van BEETHOVEN (1770– 1827) Beethoven started his career with youthful confidence as a celebrated pianist. He ended it as the greatest composer, but in loneliness and isolation because of his deafness. Beethoven was born in Bonn on the Rhine in 1770. At 22 he travelled by stagecoach to Vienna, taking a week to cover the 500 mile journey. The timing was favourable for the ambitious young pianist and composer. The style and musical forms he inherited from Haydn and Mozart were still capable of further development, and it was a time of social and political upheaval, culminating in the French Revolution of 1789. Fertile ground indeed for the young trailblazer. Beethoven’s life in Vienna has been traditionally divided into ‘three periods’ separated by two dramatic crises. These were the onset of deafness around 1800-02 and the Heiligenstadt Testament (in which he despaired of ever leading a normal life and believed death to be imminent), and the death of his younger brother, Carl Caspar, in 1815 which led to the acrimonious custody battle for his nephew. The most productive of these so-called periods was the Middle Period, set approximately between his two major crises. Rather than fitting into the convenient three phases, Beethoven’s life was much more a musical journey and a difficult and ongoing search, as his sketchbooks show, for a language with which to express his ideas and emotions. Beethoven bridged two eras. In character he belonged to the nineteenth century and its ideals concerning the brotherhood of man, the sense of the heroic, and the rights
of the individual. His music, however, was not influenced by these Romantic values, but was built on the achievements of the Classical Period, which he stretched to the limits and then transformed. In doing this he anticipated, and then inspired, the ensuing Romantic period. Beethoven is neither Classic nor Romantic – he is, quite simply, Beethoven.
s Sonata No.30 in E major, Op.109 (1820) Dedicated to Maximiliane Brentano Vivace ma non troppo – Adagio espressivo Prestissimo Andante molto cantabile ed espressivo (Gesangvoll mit innigster Empfindung) With the titanic utterance of the sonata Op.106, Beethoven had created a work which was in a class of its own. Its extremes could be taken no further. It could beget no new style or direction of writing in that vein, and the last three sonatas which followed it find the composer reverting to more contained modes of expression, innovative though they still are. Composed in 1820, the Sonata Op.109 is dedicated to Maximiliane Brentano. She was the eighteen year old daughter of Antonie Brentano, the most likely candidate for being Beethoven’s mysterious ‘Immortal Beloved’. The first movement is unusual in that it consists of the unresolved and unintegrated alternation of two contrasting
thematic groups. The first theme is rhythmically regular and flowing in nature, but the second is marked Adagio espressivo and has an improvised quality. It is as rhythmically and harmonically vague as the first theme is transparent and simple. No rapprochement is reached between the two themes, although the opening one has the last word when it reappears as a coda. The second movement may act like a scherzo, but is a vigorous and compressed sonata form movement in which the bass line from the opening bars turns out to be thematically crucial. Rhythmic dynamism and restless musical development (especially involving the bass figure) forestall any possibility of being falsely lulled by the jaunty melody line alone. The two short opening movements act as preludes to the substantial third. This consists of a beautifully reflective original theme which is to be played ‘lyrically, and with profoundest feeling’. It is followed by six variations. Being of contrasting character, the variations together form an expansive and subtle canvas. The original theme is recalled briefly at the end of the movement, bringing the sonata to a gentle and atmospheric close.
s Sonata No.31 in A-flat major, Op.110 (1821) Moderato cantabile molto espressivo Allegro molto Adagio, ma non troppo Fuga: Allegro ma non troppo
The only major piece completed by Beethoven in 1821 was this sonata in A-flat major, much of his energy being absorbed by progress with the Missa Solemnis and the Ninth Symphony. Like the Sonata Op.109 composed the previous year, the new work is cast in three flexible movements and continues a move away from the symphonic grandeur of the ‘Hammerklavier’. Op.110 bears no inscription, although Beethoven considered a number of possible dedicatees before eventually leaving it uninscribed. Even so, the work has a personal character. The performance indication for the first movement calls not just for a moderate tempo but also a lyrical style and great expressiveness. To reinforce that further, beneath the opening bars is an instruction for the performer to play con amabilita. In Archduke Rudolph’s instruction book Beethoven once noted of his own composition: ‘Good singing was my guide; I strove to write as flowingly as possible and trusted my ability to justify myself before the judgement of sound reason and pure taste’. Lyricism, often of a vocal quality, certainly permeates Op.110, not just in the opening movement but equally so in the plangent recitative sections in the third. Similarly moving instances of quasi-vocal declamation are to be found in the late string quartets. As in the previous one, in this sonata the weightiest musical working is reversed for the last of three movements, the first two being of a lighter and more introductory nature. In this case the first movement is in abbreviated sonata form (the development treats only the first subject group), while
the second is in effect a scherzo which incorporates a trio driven by propulsive rhythms. The third movement consists of alternating sections of strict three part fugue and contrastingly free lyricism. The latter begins with metrically unmeasured recitative then moves into what Beethoven calls a Klagender Gesang (song of lament). Other instructions in the score, including ermattet (exhausted) and wieder auflebend (coming to life again) also suggest a musical response to some personal event, in this case probably recovery from a serious illness. In the end the fugue resumes and rises to a triumphant peroration. As Tovey has observed ‘like all Beethoven’s visions, this Fugue absorbs and transcends the world’. The personal is transfigured into the universal.
s Sonata No.32 in C minor, Op.111 (1821 – 22) * Dedicated to the Archduke Rudolph Maestoso – Allegro con brio ed appassionato Arietta – Adagio molto semplice e cantabile The Piano Sonata Op.111 was completed in 1822 and was Beethoven’s last work in the medium. With its formal originality and the extraordinary breadth of emotional terrain covered, it epitomises his late style. Even so, it was not to be his last work for the piano, an instrument whose limitations left him impatient. The Diabelli Variations and two final sets of bagatelles were still to appear.
Cast in just two movements, Op.111 reveals in a strikingly direct way Beethoven’s interest in reconciling the intrinsic differences between sonata and variations forms, the structural principles which in later life engaged him with the greatest creative intensity. Introduced by an arresting maestoso figure, the first movement is in sonata form, but enriched beyond expectations. For example the normally simple transition passage between the first and second subjects here is a small fugato section. Drama and elemental vigour pervade the movement, as the naturally argumentative possibilities of sonata form are exploited. The second movement begins with an arietta, a theme as lyrical and gentle as the beginning of the first movement was dramatic. Beethoven reworked this arietta theme repeatedly, apparently determined to refine it into the simplicity it now has. Then follow five variations. Through the first two there is a sensation of acceleration until the third variation an exuberant, dancing character breaks through, oddly suggestive of some early twentieth century jazz piece. Here a Titan is at play, but in the fourth and fifth variations the music takes on an increasingly other-worldly character. The higher registers of the keyboard are favoured and trills become a notable element of the ethereal texture. The sonata concludes in an atmosphere of quiet composure. The two movements of Op.111 are a complementary pair and need no third or fourth movements to ensure a sense of completion. Over the centuries commentators have been moved to suggest many interpretations of this two-part form. Perhaps the first movement evokes the battles of daily life
while the second intimates something of the spiritual beyond, as Edwin Fischer believed. Certainly the minor key drama of the first movement yields convincingly to the meditative calmness of the major key variations, completing a process of ascent through struggle and anguish to attain a noble calm. According to Grove, the dedication of this final sonata was added by the publisher.
Michael Houstoun Michael Houstoun was born in Timaru, New Zealand in 1952. He became interested in the piano when he was a small child and began lessons at the age of five, under the tutelage, first of Sister Mary Eulalie in Timaru, and then of the great Maurice Till in Christchurch and Dunedin. Michael moved through the examination grades and by the age of eighteen had won every major competition in New Zealand. In 1973 he entered the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition where he placed third. Other international competition successes came in 1975 at the Leeds Competition (fourth prize) and in 1982 at the Tchaikowsky Competition (sixth prize). Michael lived away from New Zealand from 1974 until 1981 and in this time studied with Rudolf Serkin at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia (1974-5) and with Brigitte (‘Gigi’) Wild in London (1978-9). He performed in the USA, UK, Germany and Holland. In 1981 Michael followed his heart back to New Zealand where he has continued to live and concertise ever since, performing also in Australia, Japan, Singapore and Hong Kong. He plays from a large repertoire which stretches from J.S. Bach to the present day, including forty concertos and chamber music. A strong advocate of New Zealand music his programmes regularly feature works by composers from Douglas Lilburn and John Psathas. During the 1990s he concentrated on the music of Beethoven, playing the complete sonatas in five cycles around New Zealand –
Wellington, Auckland, Christchurch, Dunedin, Napier. He played the concerto cycle in NZ and Australia. Michael won the Turnovsky Prize in 1982, and in 1999 received an honorary doctorate in literature from Massey University. In 2007 he was made a Laureate of the Arts Foundation of New Zealand. In 1996 he collaborated with television producer Tainui Stephens on a documentary about Franz Liszt, Icon in B minor, and in 2005 he was the subject of another documentary, Piano Man. Michael frequently adjudicates music competitions in New Zealand, and in 1998 was a juror at the Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition in Salt Lake City. He is Patron of the Nelson School of Music, the Regent on Broadway theatre in Palmerston North, the Piano Tuners and Technicians Guild of New Zealand, the New Zealand Music Examinations Board and the Kerikeri National Piano Competition.
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MICHAEL HOUSTOUN PERFORMS BEETHOVEN THE LAST THREE PIANO SONATAS OP.109, OP.110 & OP.111 MMT4001 C 2009 Morrison Music Trust P 2009 Morrison Music Trust Recorded Live in the Gallagher Concert Chamber, WEL Energy Trust Academy of Performing Arts, University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand, 17 November 2007. An Interview with Michael Houstoun filmed and recorded in the piano studio of Rae de Lisle, Auckland, New Zealand, 2 December 2007. Director Bill McCarthy Audio Producer Wayne Laird Audio Editing & Mixing Wayne Laird Audio Recording Engineer Paul McGlashin Audio Encoding Stebbing Recording Centre DVD Authoring & Encoding Media Proof Cameramen Bill McCarthy, Shaun Stringer & Geoff Andrew Lighting Dave Jones Piano Technician Glenn Easley Interviewer Terry Snow Executive Producer Charles Davenport Booklet Design Mallabar Music Programme Notes Martin Lodge Photography Dean Zillwood The HRL Morrison Music Trust & Trust Records gratefully acknowledges the support of the following people and organisations in the making of this recording: Hamilton Chamber Music Society, Chamber Music New Zealand, Russell Armitage, Gaye Duffil, Terry Snow, Rae de Lisle, Euan Murdoch, Martin Lodge, Jeremy Bell, WEL Energy Trust Academy of Performing Arts, New Zealand School of Music and Dean Zillwood Photography Ltd. The HRL Morrison Music Trust was established in March 1995 as a charitable trust to support New Zealand musicians of international calibre. All funds received by the Trust are used to make recordings under the Trust Records label, present concerts – both in New Zealand and overseas – and assist artists to undertake projects to further develop their talents. HRL Morrison Music Trust, PO Box 10-143, Wellington, New Zealand info@trustcds.com www.trustrecords.com
Trust Records International Ltd HRL Morrison Music Trust PO Box 1395, Wellington New Zealand
MMT4001 2009 HRL Morrison Music Trust 2009 HRL Morrison Music Trust Menu Screens English Video Aspect 4:3 Colour Mode Colour Region Code PAL 123456 DVD Format DVD 9 Dual Layer Total Duration 110:02 Audio Dolby Digital Surround 5.1, Dolby Digital Stereo Audio Content Op.109 19:59 Op.110 20:20 Op.111 29:40 Interview 40:03 For more information about this recording or others by the HRL Morrison Music Trust visit
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MICHAEL HOUSTOUN PERFORMS BEETHOVEN THE LAST THREE PIANO SONATAS OP.109, OP.110 & OP.111
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