On February 6, 2019, I attended a Wednesday Noon Hour Concert put on by the UBC School of Music. The concert was entitled “From Their Youth” which showcased the early works of Franz Schubert (1797-1828) and Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958), The performance consisted of Schubert’s composition, Sonatensatz. The piece composed by Schubert is single Allegro movement it is most commonly known as Sonatensatz or Trio in B-flat major, D.28 (1812). Schubert wrote this piece at the age of fifteen years old, but it, unfortunately, was later forgotten and was once again rediscovered in 1922 within the Vienna Stadtbibliotek. According to the original manuscript, Schubert had written “sonata” at the top, this may have indicated that the piece was possibly intended as a movement of a much larger composition that Schubert may originally have had in mind. The concert also showcased a three-movement Piano Quintet in C minor, written by Ralph Vaughn Williams in 1903. The piece was premiered in 1905 and later withdrawn from performance rights in 1918. In 2002, the piece was released for publication by William’s wife, Ursula Vaughn Williams.
The concert was performed by a trio, consisting of violinist, Mary Sokol Brown, a member of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and the Turning Point Ensemble. On the cello, was Eric Wilson the Associate Professor of Cello at UBC School of Music and the founding member of the Emerson String Quartet and lastly, Terence Dawson on piano. Dawson currently serves as the Chair of the Keyboard Division at UBC and is a highly respected and versatile musician in Vancouver for his “trademark elegance” and “technical flair.”
The relationship that the musicians had for both pieces was one of great intensity and flawless execution, as their performance demonstrated the years of dedication and study that each of the musicians possessed, which I had expected. As I reflected on what might have been the original context of Sonatensatz, I came to the conclusion that this performance might have been of similar context to the way Schubert had originally hoped for. Considering that the piece was written for a trio using a violin, cello and piano. One thing I found incredibly remarkable about the instruments used for this performance, was that it is a piece that is comprised of the original instruments that he intended. To think about how far these instruments date back, it is fascinating to me because showcases how much versatility all of these instruments possess, and the wide range of use they have in music especially in comparison to past and today’s modern-present-day style of music. The most eye-opening aspect of the performance was when the performers were giving the audience some background knowledge of the piece. I found it fascinating that if you analyze the score for Sonatensatz, you can see the large influence that Johannes Brahms had on young Schubert and his compositions, this is interesting because as a music student, you always hear about all of these different composers and how they had different impacts within the eras, but I have never really realized how big of an impact they had on each other throughout the years. I also found the performance to be beautifully composed and executed the piece was, the performers did an amazing job had portraying the emotion behind the piece and knowing that Schubert was only fifteen years old at the time it was composed is unbelievable.
Vaughan Williams’ Piano Quintet in C minor consisted of three movements, the first one is entitled “Allegro con fuoco.” Throughout this movement, it consists of many parts of repetition between the instruments creating a fugue between the piano and strings. This allowed for the piece to build up the intensity of emotion that leads into the second movement called “Andante.” The second movement was much more emotional with beginning fugue repeating itself towards the end, as it progressed into the final movement called “Fantasia (quazi variazioni)” which I had found to be a fitting title, as Fantasia is described as a “free fantasy.” Overall the final movement brought so much emotion that tied the whole performance together, ending the concert in perfect harmony and left me with a new love for Vaughan Willams’ Piano Quintet.
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