On Character in Music

Description

World-renowned pianist Alfred Brendel is the inaugural Humanitas Visiting Professor in Chamber Music at the University of Cambridge. He will give a series of public lectures at the Faculty of Music, which he will illustrate at the piano. In addition, he will participate in an open rehearsal with the Szymanowski Quartet, who will be performing at West Road Concert Hall subsequently.

Lecture 1: On Character in Music

This lecture sets out to show that the perception of character and atmosphere in musical performances is no less important than that of form and structure. The belief that the structure of a work automatically reveals its character is a fallacy.  The notion of character appears in 18th-century treatises on interpretation as well as in writing on aesthetics where it is first discussed at the time when Beethoven's sonatas begin to appear.  Czerny's comments on Beethoven's piano works are full of references to character.  The pianist's task becomes related to that of a character actor identifying with different roles, with an ever widening awareness of the staggering emotional and psychological variety great music has to offer. Brendel will illustrate this lecture with musical examples at the piano. 

Further lectures and events in the series are: 

Humanitas
On Character in Music 13 May 2011 5:00pm - 6:15pm, West Road Concert Hall, Faculty of Music
Light and Shade of Interpretation 16 May 2011 5:00pm - 6:15pm, West Road Concert Hall, Faculty of Music
Open Rehearsal with Alfred Brendel and Szymanowski Quartet 17 May 2011 2:00pm - 5:00pm, West Road Concert Hall, Faculty of Music Szymanowski Quartet and Alfred Brendel discuss Beethoven’s Quartet in A minor, op. 132.
Concert by Szymanowski Quartet 18 May 2011 7:30pm - 9:45pm, West Road Concert Hall, Faculty of Music