The BROSA STRING Quartet
MOZART was for long a Court musician. Until he gained popularity with some of his Operas, and even afterwards, he was very much at the mercy of the nobility. He was sometimes treated very badly, even contemptuously, by those in high places.
When, however, he visited
King Frederick William the Second in Berlin in 1789, he received a generous offer from the King, who asked him to take charge of his music at a salary of 3,000 thalers (something like £600). But Mozart refused to desert the ‘ good Emperor ' whom ho was serving in Vienna. Still, the King commissioned him to write him seme String Quartets, and Mozart set to work on these as soon as he got back to Vienna. He received one hundred pieces of gold (Friedrichs d'or) and a gold snuffbox when he sent the first. In the complete standard edition of Mozart's works it is his twenty-first String Quartet, and is numbered K.575.
It is full of delicious charm, and some people consider it typically Viennese in its polish and grace.
The FIRST MOVEMENT is pleasant, light, and delicately expressive.
Tho SECOND MOVEMENT is perhaps a little more staid, but it is very easy-going.
The THIRD is a courtly Minuet.
The FOURTH is the gayest, most sparkling of Finales.
8.15 ELIZABETH SIDDONS
BUDGET reading Shakespeare's Macbeth,' Act II, Scene 2, and Act V, Scene 1
TWO of the most famous scenes in Macbeth arc that in which Lady Macbeth upbraids the Thane for his weakness after the murder of Duncan, and that other, at the close of the play, in which her last appearance shows even her strong will broken down by the strain of secret guilt. These arc the two scenes that Mrs. Budgen (a grand-daughter of Mrs. Siddons, the greatest name in the whole roll of British actresses) will read tonight.
GERTRUDE JOHNSON and the Quartet
Scena for Voice and String Quartet,
' Rima's Call to the Birds ' Cyril Scott
BOTH the father and grandfather of Eugene Goossens were well-known
Conductors. Goossens the third early distinguished himself not only as Conductor, but also as Composer. He has written some striking pieces of chamber music.
This Quartet is dated ' November-
December, 1915 ' (when the Composer was twenty-two).
Each movement is dedicated,' with duo regard for appropriateness,' to a member of the Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra, in which Goossens formerly played Second Violin. The FIRST MOVEMENT, dedicated to ‘ A. B.' (Arthur Beckwith ) is marked Allegro con grazia (Quick and graceful). The
'SECOND MOVEMENT (' R. J.’—
Raymond Jeremy ) is expressive, slow and sustained. The FINALE (' C. S.'-Cedric Sharpe ) is marked Allegro giocoso quasi burlesca (Quick, gay, and in a burlesque style).