My 40 Minute Recital Program

[jmanpno]

Hello,

I am attempting to put together a high-level forty minute program.  I have been in love with the Chopin and Scriabin pairing for awhile, what you do you think about opening with the Beethoven?


Beethoven Sonata, Op. 109
Chopin Scherzo #3 in c-sharp minor
Scriabin Sonata #4 in F-sharp Major

I welcome any suggestions.  The inclusion of a **brief** (<7') American work written post 1970 would be most welcome.  I am sort of married to the idea of concluding with these pieces, so I thank you for not tampering with them in your response unless absolutely necessary!

Best!

Joe

[49410enrique]

hmm i dont have anything 'american'  that modern, this is the closest i have, uploading a review copy for you,  i'm still trying to get my mind around what's okay and not to upload (so as usual the legal speak, this is uploaded under my understanding that it is pd with 50+ years after copyright? if it's a big no no i will promptly take down, it is asked that after you study this 'review' copy you purchase the score should you decide to perform it in public and to check with appropriate foundations for permission to perform any such works if/when needed)

musicology:
Souvenirs (1951) is one of Samuel Barber's very few pieces that would be considered light in style, or referred to as salon music. The piano suite was first composed at the suggestion of a friend of Barber's, Charles Turner. The two, while relaxing in New York City would often visit the bar in the Blue Angel Club. Here, they would listen to and enjoy a popular piano duet team, known as Edie and Rack. This two-piano duo was known for arranging popular melodies of the day, including Broadway tunes into a more cultured musical vein. Turner recommended that Barber compose a piece in a similar, lighthearted style, although with original melodies. The work was originally composed for four-hand piano. Barber dedicated Souvenirs to his friend, Turner, and the two played the composition at parties they attended in New York and across Europe, coinciding with the true intent of salon music.
 
Barber, in the preface of the original published copy of the four-hand piano version of Souvenirs, recalls a specific memory. As a boy, he and his mother would visit the Palm Court of the Hotel Plaza in New York, approximately between 1915 and 1920. The piano music that Barber heard here also greatly contributed to Barber's compositional ideas for the Souvenirs suite. Thus, the name of the piece refers to memories of music past, "remembered with affection, not in irony or with tongue in cheek, but in amused tenderness."
 
This work, although not composed with the intent of publishment or further arrangements, became popular in several versions. In 1952, the composer himself arranged the piece for solo piano. Also in 1952, Arthur Gold and Robert Fizedale, two well-known piano players, recorded Souvenirs in the setting of piano duet. This recording brought the composition into the public eye, where it was warmly received as inventive salon music. Barber also arranged the work for orchestra, in order to accompany dancing, for a ballet, at the suggestion of Lincoln Kerstein. This orchestral suite is also highly regarded, and was praised after its premiere by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, under Fritz Reiner. The ballet, after assorted difficulties, was first performed in 1955, with dance choreography by Todd Bolender. The ballet is considered humorously satirical.
 
The Souvenirs suite consists of six short movements, Waltz, Schottische, Pas de deux, Two-Step, Hesitation-Tango, and Galop. It is easy to see how this piece easily translated into a ballet suite. The first movement is a waltz, in triple meter, cast in the major mode. An interesting feature occurs near the end of this movement. The time signature changes to five beats per measure. This is special because, by definition, a waltz is limited to triple meter. The second movement is fast and goes through several meter changes, while the third movement is slow and reminiscent. The final three movements are all quick in tempo, especially the final movement, Galop.

edit-found out it is under cr, took score file down.

[49410enrique]

also if you're looking for something with a scriabinesque sound, highly reccommend you check out roy agnews works he's known as the 'australian scriabin' lots of similaries but he is original enough and works are substantial. good luck let us know what you decide and if you record please up load thanks

ex

Roy Agnew's third piano sonata, titled Sonata Ballade, is a combination of his winsome lyricism and static, Scriabinesque harmonies. The single movement sonata indulges in the sweeping dramatic gestures of more familiar ballades by Chopin or Liszt. The two contrasting themes could almost be two lovers apart, the masculine opening theme lamenting with sweeping descending gestures, the gentler second theme more distant and elusive. As the work progresses, the second theme takes on a more spiritual hue, and builds to the work's climax before the recapitulation. Despite a triumphant conclusion, the enigmatic second theme remains unresolved, like a passing glimpse of a mysterious and beautiful woman, or the yearning for an unreachable spiritual plane. This mysticism laced with sensuality is why Agnew is often referred to as the Australian Scriabin.

Recorded at Yamaha Artist Studios, New York on May 22, 2009

[jmanpno]

Wow thanks guys for the response!  Definitely some good rep there.  I was familiar with the Barber Souvenirs, but did not know the full story.  I remember reading about the references to the Palm Court--now I know the full story.  No quite what I'd have in mind for this particular program, but I will keep it in mind going forward!

I also really liked the Australian Scriabin!  Again, not really what I need for these purposes, but thank you!  Any advice on where to find his music?

[49410enrique]

Wow thanks guys for the response!  Definitely some good rep there.  I was familiar with the Barber Souvenirs, but did not know the full story.  I remember reading about the references to the Palm Court--now I know the full story.  No quite what I'd have in mind for this particular program, but I will keep it in mind going forward!

I also really liked the Australian Scriabin!  Again, not really what I need for these purposes, but thank you!  Any advice on where to find his music?

sorry i wasn't much help with this time around, honestly your programing looks pretty solid, especially since your scriabin and chopin pair aren't too similar (i.e. very early scriabin high very derivative of chopin, though even then scriabin's quirkyness, harmonic language, and even the  'interlocking thumbs' that we sometimes see were starting to emerge).

as for agnew's works, they are a bugger to find in hard copy, i can't find anyone publishing right now (most of what i found on amazon uk is out of print/unavailable), though im sure in australia it would be much much easier to find. i do have some really nice scans i can email or up load to my mediafire for you, shoot me a pm with a good email address (it can be 'spam account' doesnt need to be your main email if you dont want to give it out).

[jmanpno]

No problem Enrique.  I think it's pretty solid as well.  I was going back and forth for awhile with the "what to do? what to do?" before the Chopin/Scriabin.  The Beethoven seems a perfect fit, but perhaps a bit under the mark for time.... It's hard for me to imagine what to put in between though. 

[pytheamateur]

hmm i dont have anything 'american'  that modern, this is the closest i have, uploading a review copy for you,  i'm still trying to get my mind around what's okay and not to upload (so as usual the legal speak, this is uploaded under my understanding that it is pd with 50+ years after copyright? if it's a big no no i will promptly take down, it is asked that after you study this 'review' copy you purchase the score should you decide to perform it in public and to check with appropriate foundations for permission to perform any such works if/when needed)

In relation to the 50-year rule on copyright, I think time starts to run from the death of the author not from the date the work was published.

[49410enrique]

In relation to the 50-year rule on copyright, I think time starts to run from the death of the author not from the date the work was published.

YIKES! thanks, took the score down right away as soon as you pointed out my mistake. thanks again, sorry.

[49410enrique]

maybe some phillip glass, he has some pretty post 1970 solo works, even if it is minima/incidentalish might provide nice contrast,

my first choice would lean towards one of his etudes:
theres several to choose from but youtube should have others this is to no 1 (2005 i believe)

metamorphosis (there are 5 to choose from, the set totals about 30 minutes though so you might want to go with selections)

mad rush

[bachbrahmsschubert]

My favorite American composer is Frederic Rzewski.

His most famous work is Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues, but if you know of him, you already know that! It might be a bit over your time mark, but he's definitely worth looking into. Maybe one of the North American Ballades would fit better.

His sheet music will be difficult to come by; IMSLP has copies, but they are hand written and difficult to read.

Best of luck,

Edit: I guess I should also mention his works are INCREDIBLY difficult.

[jmanpno]

Hahaha I considered Rzewski.  It is a shame that it would be over time though, it would make a GREAT transition piece!

[tsaij]

His sheet music will be difficult to come by; IMSLP has copies, but they are hand written and difficult to read.

Really don't understand this mentality. His music is published by, and readily available from, Zen-On. Do people just expect all sheet music to be available for free? Rzewski is one of our great living composers-- support his work, buy a score.

That said, there are several shorter pieces of his. Maybe look at Squares, a set of four pieces, which is published together with the North American Ballads. Noctamble works quite nicely as a standalone piece... so would Squall, but it's really tough. Elliott Carter has also written several short pieces since 1990, all of which are quite accessible technically; the best of the lot, I'd say, are 90+, Two Diversions, and Retrouvailles.

[retrouvailles]

Really don't understand this mentality. His music is published by, and readily available from, Zen-On. Do people just expect all sheet music to be available for free? Rzewski is one of our great living composers-- support his work, buy a score.

If you knew more about Rzewski, you would know that he has consented for much of his music to be available as public domain, and most of it is not sold. There isn't much of his music that you can actually buy. The stuff on Zen-On is not available on IMSLP and is not public domain, so if he wants to download something from IMSLP, let him!