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Opening Concert Program 2002Pawel Skrzypek, Pianist[View biography of Pawel Skrzypek]PERFORMING ON THE GROTRIAN CONCERT GRAND PIANOBEETHOVEN CHOPIN MUSSORGSKY Program Notes
Of Chopin's 12 Polonaise's, the Polonaise-Fantasy Op 61 written in 1846 towards the end of his life is the most ambitious. The incessant yearning nostalgia for his beloved home in Warsaw, Poland, is a recurring theme in all of Chopin's music. The Polonaise-Fantasy, is one of Chopin's most ambitious compositions. While its shape may be difficult to understand, there are enough sublimely beautiful moments in this piece to hold the listener's attention. The work has come to be regarded as a masterpiece on a par with other distinctive works of this period, such as the 4th Ballade Op 52 written in 1842 and the Barcarolle Op.60 written around the same time as the Polonaise-Fantasy.
Beethoven dedicated this sonata, written in 1814, to his friend and patron, Count Moritz von Lichnowsky, who at that time was engaged to be married. Written in a two movement form, perhaps as a jest to his friend’s dilemma, Beethoven, referred to it as 'a contest between head and heart.' Appropriate to this idea we find in the first movement, set in strictly classical sonata form, an expression of restlessness. The second movement, a rondo cast in the 'sunny' key of E Major, seems to embody the very essence of peaceful contentment. The 'song without words' character of the main recurring theme of this movement, while a common feature of many of Beethoven's slow movements, practically became a mannerism of Schubert and Mendelssohn.
The inspiration for Mussorgsky's ground breaking, Pictures At An Exhibition followed a wave of Russian nationalism that began in 1860 when, among others, the architect and close friend of Mussorgsky, Victor Hartmann, abandoned the traditional classic Byzantine domes and columns for a style based on Russian medieval and folk art. This was expressed in a series of 400 paintings that were displayed in the St. Petersburg Society of Architects in 1874, one year after Hartmann's death. Pictures opens with the famous Promenade theme which recurs in various forms within and between the 10 pictures. The majestic promenade theme itself seems to extol and honor the very essence of Russia while in the individual movements we encounter various strange scenes. The Gnome is filled with a variety of musical grotesqueries; The Old Castle is a picture of a solitary man looking at the ruins of a castle while playing his guitar. Tuileries, a scherzo depicting children quarreling and playing, is followed by the weighty Bydlo, the Oxen cart. The Ballet of the Unhatched Chicks was a design for children’s costumes. Samuel Goldenberg and Schmuyle graphically depict a powerful rich man and a poor man pleading for a monetary gift. The fast-paced bustle of the Market Place At Limoges presents one of the most difficult pieces of the set. We then enter the Roman Catacombs with its two sub-movements, Sepulcrum Romanum and Con Mortuis in Lingua Mortua. Finally there is the picture of the mythological witch, known by all Russians as Baba Yaga. Her hut is supported on four chicken feet and she rides through the air in a mortar, which she rows with a pestle; she also occasionally uses it to grind human bones for food. The majestic final work, called The Great Gate of Kiev, is based on the promenade theme. In it we can hear the ringing bells of the great cathedrals alternating with the soulful prayer music reminiscent of Russian liturgical music. Program notes by Michael TierraContact Gold Country Piano InstituteAddress: P.O. Box 1321, Nevada City, CA 95959-1321
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