Music on Thursdays
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Thursday 28 May 2026
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Lin Xu-Zhang
piano
Programme
Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
12 Deutsche Ländler, D 790 12 German Country Dances (May 1823)
numbered, without titles, marked: Deutsches tempo
Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)
Andante with Variations in F minor, Hob XVII: 6 (aka Un piccolo divertimento, 1793)
Giles Farnaby (c1563-1640)
Fantasia in G, MB 24/5
Thomas Tomkins (1572-1656)
Pavan and Galliard - Earl Strafford, MB 3/44-45 (29 Sep 1647)
Orlando Gibbons (1583-1625)
The Woods so Wild, MB 20/29, FVB 40
William Byrd (c1540-1623)
Fantasia in A, MB 27/13
O Mistress Mine, MB 28/83, T 488, FVB 66
Concert duration approx: 45+ minutes
Please donate to help fund these concerts at: cafdonate.cafonline.org/14455
Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
12 Deutsche Ländler, D 790 12 German Country Dances (May 1823)
numbered, without titles, marked: Deutsches tempo
Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)
Andante with Variations in F minor, Hob XVII: 6 (aka Un piccolo divertimento, 1793)
Giles Farnaby (c1563-1640)
Fantasia in G, MB 24/5
Thomas Tomkins (1572-1656)
Pavan and Galliard - Earl Strafford, MB 3/44-45 (29 Sep 1647)
Orlando Gibbons (1583-1625)
The Woods so Wild, MB 20/29, FVB 40
William Byrd (c1540-1623)
Fantasia in A, MB 27/13
O Mistress Mine, MB 28/83, T 488, FVB 66
Concert duration approx: 45+ minutes
Please donate to help fund these concerts at: cafdonate.cafonline.org/14455
Lin Xu-Zhang
Australian-born pianist Lin Xu-Zhang has emerged as one of the most compelling young artists of his generation, acclaimed for the rare refinement of his pianism and the intellectual depth that informs his interpretations. His performances are characterised by a distinctive fusion of historically informed insight and contemporary sensibility, articulated through an expressive command of the modern piano. His artistry spans an extraordinary breadth of repertoire – from the music of the Renaissance to that of today’s leading composers – embracing figures as diverse as Couperin and Dukas, Sweelinck and Schoenberg, Mozart and Messiaen.
In the 2025-26 season, Lin undertakes an ambitious schedule of more than four dozen recitals across the United Kingdom and internationally. Notable engagements include an all-William Byrd programme at Lincoln Cathedral, where the composer once served as organist and master of the choristers over four centuries ago, and performances at the Royal Academy of Music’s Summer Piano Festival, marking the culmination of the institution’s multi-year traversal of Robert Schumann’s complete piano works.
As a concerto soloist, he also recently appeared in a rare performance of Arnold Schoenberg’s Piano Concerto at the Academy and as a committed advocate of new music, he has premiered works by leading Australian composers such as Gerard Brophy, Alex Pozniak, and Katia Beaugeais.
Lin graduated with first-class honours in his undergraduate studies from the Royal Academy of Music, London with the highest mark in his concerto exam, studying under Joanna MacGregor CBE alongside further tutelage from Steven Osborne OBE. A laureate of several international competitions, he continues his Master of Music studies at the Academy as a scholarship recipient. He resides in central London.
Today's recital marks Lin's second appearance in Leatherhead. His first appearance in May 2025 saw him present a solo recital featuring works by Tielman Susato, Couperin, Satie and Dukas.
Recordings of the works in today's concert
Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
12 Deutsche Ländler, D 790 12 German Country Dances (May 1823)
numbered, without titles, marked: Deutsches tempo
12 Deutsche Ländler, D 790 12 German Country Dances (May 1823)
numbered, without titles, marked: Deutsches tempo
Notes from pianist Rachel Naomi Kudo© on YouTube: Franz Schubert’s fascination with the miniature dance form — waltzes, Ländler, écossaises, and German dances — runs throughout his career, leaving more than 400 such pieces. Composed in 1823 and published posthumously in 1825 by Anton Diabelli as Op. 171, the Zwölf Deutsche Tänze (Twelve German Dances), D.790, reflect the vibrant social life of early 19th-century Vienna.
In Schubert’s hands, these modest works transcend their ballroom origins. Each brief dance is a self-contained vignette, striking a balance between rustic vitality and refined elegance. Some sparkle with folk-like exuberance; others are inward and lyrical, even tinged with melancholy. Taken together, they form a kaleidoscope of moods, evoking both the swirl of dancers in a Viennese ballroom and the poetic intimacy of a pianist alone at the keyboard.
Though less frequently performed today than Schubert’s later waltz cycles, D.790 demonstrates the composer’s uncanny ability to elevate the simplest forms. What might have been ephemeral entertainment becomes music of lasting artistic value, rich in invention, charm, and emotional resonance.
In Schubert’s hands, these modest works transcend their ballroom origins. Each brief dance is a self-contained vignette, striking a balance between rustic vitality and refined elegance. Some sparkle with folk-like exuberance; others are inward and lyrical, even tinged with melancholy. Taken together, they form a kaleidoscope of moods, evoking both the swirl of dancers in a Viennese ballroom and the poetic intimacy of a pianist alone at the keyboard.
Though less frequently performed today than Schubert’s later waltz cycles, D.790 demonstrates the composer’s uncanny ability to elevate the simplest forms. What might have been ephemeral entertainment becomes music of lasting artistic value, rich in invention, charm, and emotional resonance.
Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)
Andante with Variations in F minor, Hob XVII: 6 (aka Un piccolo divertimento, 1793)
We have quite a change of mood as Andras Schiff performs Haydn's Andante and Variations:
Giles Farnaby (c1563-1640)
Fantasia in G, MB 24/5
For the Farnaby Fantasia we hear the "little virginals". As you see the player sits sideways on to the instrument. Here is the YouTube note on David Clark Little's recording:
This virginal was built by Lynette Tsiang in 1976, after the Italian builder Francesco Poggio (d1634). It is a polygonal or 5-sided instrument with one set of brass strings and 52 keys, with four split black keys for the "broken" short octave in the bass.
And for the technically minded: The tuning is lower than present-day concert pitch (A is at 415 Hz instead of 440 Hz). Vallotti temperament was used to tune the virginal, 6 fifths are perfect, and 6 fifths are slightly flat. Major thirds C-E, F-A, and G-B are almost pure.
Thomas Tomkins (1572-1656)
Pavan and Galliard - Earl Strafford, MB 3/44-45 (29 Sep 1647)
Although Tomkins was also a noted Virginals player of his day, we shall hear this Pavan & Galliard on the clavichord. Unlike the plucking action of the harpsichord, here the metal pin strikes the string. The sounds dies away as soon as the pin stops being in contact with the string. You will probably notice therefore that the player has to hold the key down to keep the note sounding.
Orlando Gibbons (1583-1625)
The Woods so Wild, MB 20/29, FVB 40
Pieter-Jan Belder plays a harpsichord by Adlam Burnett, a copy of a much earlier Ruckers instrument. The church is St Laurence Church Mijnsheerenland (Sint Laurentius Kerk), a Dutch Protestant Church (which started life as Roman Catholic) in the modern-day province of South-Holland (Zuid-Holland).
William Byrd (c1540-1623)
Fantasia in A, MB 27/13
Karim Said is another pianist who enjoys performing these early works on a modern piano. Here he is playing a Steinway piano in the Cleveland Museum of Art:
William Byrd (c1540-1623)
O Mistress Mine, MB 28/83, T 488, FVB 66
First let us hear the song itself, with Sam Brown playing the lute accompaniment for soprano Penelope Appleyard. Here is the text:
Long have mine eyes gazed with delight,
Conveying hopes unto my soul;
Happy in nothing but the sight
Of her that doth eyesight control,
That now mine eyes must lose their light.
Then, mistress mine, take this farewell:
A bleeding heart, a blubber'd eye,
Disquiet thoughts which still rebel,
A broken heart that cannot die;
If ever man were crossed, 'tis I!
They perform at the VOCES8 Centre, the Church of St Anne & St Agnes, in London's Gresham Street.
This church required substantial works as a result of a fire in 1584, then again after the Great Fire of 1666, and once more after German bombing through the night of 29/30 December 1940. After WW2 it was rebuilt with the aid of supporters of the Lutheran Church around the world, and became the home of the Latvian and Estonian Lutheran communities until 2013.
The instrumental recording that follows is by Pieter-Jan Belder:
Next concert
4 June 2026 - Takanori Okamoto, violin, Peiying Li, piano, students of the Royal Academy of Music click here
Previous concert
21 May 2026 - Alex Wun, piano, RAM Performance Masters student - click here
