NING HUI SEE

GRADUATION RECITAL
2 June 2016|10.35 AM
Amaryllis Fleming Concert Hall
Royal College of Music

Johann Sebastian Bach

(1685-1750)

Claude Debussy
(1862-1918)

Toccata in D major, BWV 912 [1710]

Selections from Preludes Book I [1909-1910]

v. Les Collines dAnacapri
The Hills of Anacapri

vi. Des pas sur la neige

Footsteps in the Snow

vii. Ce qua vu le Vent dOuest

What the West Wind Saw

Thomas Ads
(b.1971)

Ludwig van Beethoven

(1770-1827)

Darknesse Visible [1992]

Sonata No. 31 in A-flat major, Op. 110 [1821]

i.
ii.
iii.

Moderato cantabile molto espressivo

Allegro molto
Adagio ma non troppo

PROGRAMME NOTES
Bach explored various forms and styles in his formative years prior to his tenure in
Weimar, and the BWV 912 Toccata is a great example of such experimentation.
Perhaps the least performed of his toccatas on the piano due to its virtuosic
difficulties and, at times, unidiomatic writing, it embodies a potpourri of formal
types. The work begins with brilliant, free passagework more suited for the organ
than the harpsichord, leading to a cheerful Allegro. The Adagio that follows is
recitative-like and introspective, until a dramatic scalic interruption directs the
music into a slow fugue in F# minor. The most mature section in the entire work,
the fugue is densely chromatic and ventures into unusual harmonic territories,
creating a sublime range of colours. The fugue then proceeds, without a break,
to a quasi-improvisatory section. The music gains momentum once more and
pushes towards the final section, another fugue, but in the style of a lively gigue
this time. Somewhat quaint in character, the rhythmic drive and layers of voices
compensate for the lack of proper melodic material. The grandiose, virtuosic
finale concludes the toccata on a triumphant note.
Debussys 24 preludes, despite their diminutive sizes, are immensely expressive
and musically substantial. This particular selection of three focuses on the
seasons and natural landscapes. The first, Les Collines dAnacapri, was inspired
by Debussy's frequent visits to the Italian town, the tonal colours reflecting sun,
sea, song and wine. Starting tentatively, the mist lifts and launches the music
into a capricious dance. Des pas sur la neige is as cold and lonely as Anacapri is
warm, the unifying motif of a major second evoking the image of a lone figure
heavy-heartedly trudging through the white wilderness. There are moments
when the music attempts to break free of the bleakness and reaches upwards,
each time lapsing back to the opening motif, eventually ending more icily than
it began. Ce qua vu le Vent dOuest, considered the most technically
demanding of Debussy's preludes, presents the other extreme of winter. It whips
up a violent storm, conveying nature's malevolent intensity through the
repetitive sequences and sweeping gestures.
Ades Darknesse Visible, despite having being written in 1992, derives its melodic
and harmonic material from a much older source the Renaissance. The
composers inscription describes the work as an explosion of John Dowlands
lute song In Darknesse Let Mee Dwell (1610). No notes have been added;
indeed, some have been removed. Patterns latent in the original have been
isolated and regrouped, with the aim of illuminating the song from within, as if
during the course of a performance. The original text is as follows: In darknesse

let mee dwell / the ground shall sorrow be / The roofe Dispaire to barre / all
cheerful light from mee / The wals of marble blacke / that moistned still shall
weepe / My musicke hellish jarring sounds / to banish friendly sleepe. / Thus
wedded to my woes, and bedded to my Tombe / O let me living die till death
doe come. The ceaseless, single-key tremolo creates a surreal, shimmering
texture, drawing the sound out of the piano, eliminating the percussive nature of
the instrument. The original melody is still recognisable, but displaced over the
entire range of the keyboard, sometimes across three voices. The resulting
effect is magical and exploits the modern pianos sonorities and the sostenuto
pedal.
One of Beethoven's most mature and complex works, Op. 110 was written at a
point in his life when he had been ill, and after a renewed study of music by
Bach and Handel. The first movement opens softly and gently, with a strong
spiritual character and intimacy. Although the music seems thematically
threadbare from the outset, the material shows its nuances as the music unfolds,
albeit subtly. There is some tension and despair in the development, but it
generally remains serene, almost accepting, as though Beethoven had come to
terms with his fate. The second movement is boisterous and almost like a scherzo,
but remains more defiant and explosive than jovial. The heart of the work is in
the third movement, which alternates between slow ariosos and fugues. It
begins with a recitative in the tragic key of B-flat minor, lost and shrouded in
darkness, before leading into a vocal lament over a throbbing accompaniment.
The song ends, exhausted, from which the fugue emerges. Unlike the ariosos
melodic contour, the fugue material is perpetually ascending, as if returning to
life and reaching upwards in hope. In this section, the formal devices of fugue
and counterpoint are integral to the musics drama and reflect Beethovens
psychological progression and internal struggle. A second arioso, darker and
more weary than the first, rises into an inversion of the fugue theme that slowly
gathers momentum. The inversion of the fugue slowly stirs the music back to life,
and in the coda, polyphony is put aside for a thicker, stronger texture. Will
triumphs over suffering, and the movement is transformed into a radiant,
ecstatic utterance.