Angela Cheng, piano | February 25, 2024 | House Program

PROGRAM NOTES
The career of Viennese composer Franz Joseph
Haydn (1732-1809) coincided with a musical shift in
tastes, as the monothematic instrumental music of
the late Baroque evolved into the classical sonata
with its emphasis on contrasting melodic ideas
contained within a single movement. Recognizing
Haydn’s originality and models, both Wolfgang
Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) and Ludwig van
Beethoven (1770-1827) were known
to remark on their indebtedness to Haydn.
The Haydn sonata opening this concert was likely
the last one Haydn composed and dates from
1794. A confidently mature work, it displays a
resourceful economy of motivic material. This can
be heard in the way the opening three notes are
continually isolated and reinterpreted, as well as in
the compactness of the final movement’s sparkling
rondo that races to the finish line in under three
minutes.
Mozart’s sonata in the same key was composed
a decade earlier than the Haydn and is built
more prominently around longer melodic lines
in the right hand, usually supported by brokenchord
figuration in the left. Of note, is the slow
movement’s digression to a very sombre F minor
that continually stresses a throbbing repeated-note
pedal point.
Ludwig van Beethoven’s earliest piano sonatas
date from 1795, and of the 32 he composed,
only Op. 110 is in A flat major. This work has an
intensely dramatic focus, prominently heard in
the third movement’s expressive recitative-like
passages that lead into a Bach-like fugue based
on a subject of rising perfect fourth intervals. This
fugue subject reveals the organic nature of the
entire work as its pitches follow the main notes of
the opening movement’s gentle theme. The brevity
of the second movement’s F minor Scherzo, and
the way it abruptly ends with an arpeggiated F
Major chord that resolves into the slow movement,
also suggest that Beethoven viewed this work as
one continuous overarching structure. The last
movement’s reworking of the slow movement’s
recitative-like theme after the initial fugue, is
always an astounding moment, especially given
the way it sets up an entirely new fugal section
and coda, all based on the fugue subject turned
upside down and employed in combination with
the original version.
Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849) composed almost
exclusively for the piano and his own performance
opportunities, although he preferred playing in
the more intimate settings of a Paris salon than on
the concert stage. In genres such as the Nocturne
and Polonaise, Chpoin’s operatic-like approach
to melodic ornamentation and the incorporation
of Polish dance elements, lend his music a
distinctiveness that is often quite recognizable. The
Polonaise-Fantasie is a late work and, from the very
first page with its surprising harmonic shifts and
slow cadenza-like exploration of the keyboard, it is
apparent that the fantasy element will be a primary
compositional motivator. As will also be heard in
the two Ballades, it is in the transitions joining two
sections together, where Chopin is often his most
creative, either harmonically or virtuosically (or
both). These moments provide the music with a
forceful sense of momentum that in all three works,
reaches its peak towards the music’s conclusion.
©2024 by John Burge for the Isabel
ABOUT ANGELA CHENG
Consistently praised for her brilliant technique,
tonal beauty, and superb musicianship, Canadian
pianist Angela Cheng is one of her country’s
national treasures. In addition to regular guest
appearances with virtually every orchestra in
Canada, she has performed with the symphonies
of Saint Louis, Houston, Indianapolis, Colorado,
Utah, San Diego and Jacksonville, as well as the
philharmonic orchestras of Buffalo, Louisiana,
Rhode Island, London, Israel and Minas Gerais
in Brazil.
Recent performances include a debut with the
Fort Worth Symphony, performing Rachmaninoff’s
“Variations on a Theme of Paganini,” under the
baton of Robert Spano, and a return to the
Vancouver Symphony, performing Ravel’s Concerto
in G with Otto Tausk. Next season will include the
Boulder Philharmonic, Newfoundland Symphony,
Okanagan Symphony, Saskatoon Symphony,