Program

1) DOMENICO SCARLATTI

Sonatas in C Major 4’40

I. K. 308, Cantabile
II. K. 309, Allegro

2) WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART

Piano Sonata No. 17 in Bb Major, K.570 14’15

I. Allegro
II. Adagio
III. Allegretto

3) ROBERT SCHUMANN

Novellette No. 1 in F Major, op. 21 6’00

4) PETER SCHULTHORPE

Night Pieces 6’57

I. Snow, Moon and Flowers

(1685-1757)

K. 308, Cantabile

K. 309, Allegro

Domenico Scarlatti was an Italian composer born in Naples. He spent much of his life as a
music teacher to the Portuguese princess, Maria Barbara, and later moved to Spain for the
rest of his life when Maria married the Spanish heir. During his stay in Spain, Scarlatti wrote
more than 550 sonatas, also known as Essercizi per Graviclembalo for Maria1.

Scarlatti sonatas are usually arranged in pairs, in which the two sonatas are in the same tonic
key but have different tempos. In this pair of sonatas, each sonata is a single movement in
binary form and is based on a single melodic theme that is against a basic rhythmic figure.

K. 308 contains a motivic, lyrical two-parts texture in Cantabile. It begins in the tonic key
and modulates to the dominant before ending in the tonic key with a perfect cadence.
Scarlatti included Spanish influences in this sonata, such as the extensive use of ornaments
(e.g., acciaccatura) to create dissonances that represent the sound of clicking castanets, and
repeated notes and chordal accompaniment to imitate guitar-like strumming and flamingo
dancing2.

Contrastingly, K. 309 has a lively two-part melody in Allegro. Its most important feature is
the long note melodies that are accompanied by repeated notes of gradual changing harmony
which eventually resolves. Similar Spanish influences were also found in K. 309.

(252 words)

1Gillespie, John. Five centuries of keyboard music. Courier Corporation, 2013.

(1756 – 1791)

Allegro

Adagio

Allegretto

Born in Salzburg, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was appointed by the Italian archbishop as
assistant concertmaster where he had the opportunity to work in several musical genres 3.
Sonata in B flat Major, K. 570, is one of his 18 piano sonatas, and was first published as a
violin sonata in 1786 before being changed into an instruction piano piece for a student 4.

The opening Allegro, in sonata form, begins with a B flat tonic broken chord as the first
subject. A lyrical bridge passage follows and leads to the second subject played by the left
hand in the dominant key (F Major). This exposition integrates simple, lyrical phrases with
hints of contrapuntal writing, which reflects the influence of the Baroque in Mozart’s
composition3. Next, the development section unfolds using materials from the bridge in an
unexpected key of D flat Major to create suspense. This is followed by the reappearance of
the opening phrase in the recapitulation that brings the piece to a light-hearted close.

Adagio is in simple rondo form. It opens with an elegant melodic phrase in E flat Major that
expresses a contrasting warm and melodious character as the first episode. The second
episode derived its materials from the part-ensemble sections of Mozart’s C minor Piano
Concerto K.491, where the chromatic melodies and imitating pizzicato strings in the left hand
enhances the stately character of the sonata. Mozart briefly returns to the opening theme
before leading into the third episode, and the movement ended with a melancholic coda.

The lively Allegretto in B flat Major is in ternary form. The rhythmic theme with alternating
chords in the left-hand mimics the humorous and comical character of Mozart’s opera buffa 5.
Chromatic melodies dominated the middle section, and the principle rhythmic theme returns
before leading into the coda. An extension of the coda creates much suspense before bringing
the sonata to an end with a perfect cadence in forte.

(362 words)

3 Sadie, Stanley, and John Tyrrell. Dictionary of music and musicians. New York: Oxford
University Press. Yónatan Sánchez, 2001.
4 Gillespie, John. Five centuries of keyboard music. Courier Corporation, 2013.
5 Randel, Don Michael, ed. The Harvard dictionary of music. Harvard University Press,

2003.
Novellette No. 1 in F Major, op. 21 (1838) Robert Schumann

(1810 – 1856)

Robert Schumann was a German composer who started composing at the age of six and later,
took lessons from Johann Kuntzsch6. He started his music career as a concert pianist but soon
went into composing after developing partial paralysis on his right hand 7.

The Novellentten op. 21 consist of eight story-like pieces written in 1838 during Schumann’s
depressive life season, and were based on his dedication towards his lover, Clara Wieck,
about humoristic things and lovely memories 8.

Novellette No. 1 is in sonata rondo form. It opens majestically in F Major, which serves as an
introduction as well as transition material between statements and episodes. The subsequent
contrasting Trio is lyrical and contains triplets-based fluids arpeggio accompaniment
(episode). The opening marked statement reappears in F major and leads to the contrapuntal
section in D flat Major. The use of canonic imitation showed Schumann’s conscientious
attempt to revive the spirit of the Baroque contrapuntal material9. A short bridge leading to
another Trio in A Major follows before moving to the final statement in F Major. An
extension of the final statement creates a suspense before the grand finale that concludes the
piece with a perfect cadence.

(251 words)

6 Sadie, Stanley, and John Tyrrell. Dictionary of music and musicians. New York: Oxford
University Press. Yónatan Sánchez, 2001.
7
Brody, Elaine. "Schumann's Legacy in France." Studies in Romanticism (1974): 189-212.
8 Randel, Don Michael, ed. The Harvard dictionary of music. Harvard University Press,

2003.
9 Gillespie, John. Five centuries of keyboard music. Courier Corporation, 2013.
Night Pieces (1971) Peter Sculthorpe

(1929 – 2014)

Snow, Moon and Flowers

Night

Stars

Peter Sculthorpe was an Australian composer who was primarily known for his orchestral
and chamber music which were influenced by the social climate and physical characteristics
of Australia10. He also composed string quartets, operas, and piano works that were mainly
inspired by nature and demonstrated the influence of Asian music, specifically from
Indonesia and Japan11.

Sculthorpe’s Night Pieces were written and first performed at the 1971 Festival of Perth. It
was inspired by the Japanese concept setsugekka, which translates to ‘snow, moon and
flowers’. This concept is related to metamorphosis or the manipulation of the form and
structure of the Moonlight, Moon, and Stars. For instance, the moon itself may be seen as an
enormous snowflake or a giant white flower. Stars, on the other hand, may be seen as clusters
of snowflakes or even petals of flowers.

This manipulation was conveyed through the transformation of similar harmonic and motivic
structures. For example, the transformations of major sevenths and major/minor thirds in the
pieces reflect the interchangeable form of natural elements. These intervals are presented
horizontally and vertically as part of a chord, which reveals the various ways to perceive a
chord in these piece.

The artfully chosen pitches used for each piece were introduced at the opening section, and
Sculthorpe also brought in his orchestral elements by using gong-like punctuations in this
Night Pieces2. In addition, the pieces are centred upon an E Major tonality, with a low E
representing ‘Eternity’. This point was only apparent towards the end of “Stars”, where an
‘E’ resonates in the bass.

(305 words)

10 Hannan, Michael. Peter Sculthorpe: his music and ideas, 1929-1979. University of
Queensland Press, 1982.
11 Hannan, Michael. "The music of Peter Sculthorpe: an analytical study with particular

reference to those social and other cultural forces which have shaped the development of an
Australian vision." (1979).