Music At St. John's 2004

St. John's Church, Vicar's Lane, Chester.

Music At St. John's is affiliated to the National Federation of Music Societies and supported by Chester City Council.

Programme:

Piano Concerto No. 4 in G, Op. 23 Beethoven
Jane Ford - piano

Beethoven wrote the Fourth Piano Concerto in 1805, the same year as the Triple concerto. He was diagnosed incurably deaf in 1802, and his works thereafter clearly reflect his conquest of the crippling introspection which might have destroyed a lesser rnusician. He managed somehow to direct his vision with equal intensity upon recent bitterness and distant happiness. The concerto was dedicated to the Archduke Rudolf of Austria, and first performed in Vienna in 1808 with the composer at the piano.

No other piano concerto begins quite like Beethoven's fourth, the fIrst theme announced quietly by the unaccompanied piano, and the orchestra completing the statement even more softly and in an unrelated key. Only then does the orchestra begin a traditional tutti with the second subject, and the piano, having said the most significant thing in the movement, now contents itself with gentle, decorative figures. This continues with increasing brilliance in the solo part until a new theme is heard. The development is one of Beethoven's finest, with expressive piano variants of the main themes predominating over the orchestra.

The short slow movement has a significance out of proportion to its mere 72 bars. The depth and poetic impact of the music transcend its simplicity of construction. It is a dialogue between the broad, legato phrases of the soloist and the urgent rhythmic utterances of the orchestra, in which the solo part eventually prevails with a stormy cadenza. The movement ends with soloist and orchestra perfectly in harmony.

The rondo finale opens so quietly that it does not immediately destroy the poetry of the slow movement. The piano lightly ornaments the orchestra's staccato theme, and when a legato theme is introduced the soloist urges the orchestra to a more lively style and pace. The announcement of a third melody subtly changes the mood to one of great serenity. Finally the opening theme is transformed into fanfares to round off the concerto.