Alfred Brendel

Humanitas Visiting Professorship in Chamber Music (2010-2011)

The Visiting Professorship in Chamber Music is made possible by the generous support of  Lawrence Saper and is hosted by Peterhouse, Cambridge.

Alfred Brendel is a pianist. His first lecture, On Character in Music, showed that the perception of character and atmosphere in musical performances is no less important than that of form and structure. In his second lecture, Light and Shade of Interpretation, he examined performance details such as sound, notation, rhythm and character through recordings and projections. In both, he played musical examples on the piano to illustrate his ideas.

Alfred Brendel’s series concluded with an open rehearsal and concert with the Szymanowski Quartet. In the open rehearsal Brendel and the Quartet discussed Beethoven’s Quartet in A Minor, Op. 132, which the Quartet performed in the concluding concert at West Road Concert Hall, University of Cambridge.