Contemporary Classics September 5, 2017 Solo Piano

Tonight weare featuring the another evening of contemporary solo piano music.  First this evening we open with themusic of Judith Lang Zaimont.  Thisis inspired by the comment last week by Kirsten Volness that she studied with JudithLang Zaimont at the University of Minnesota and was inspired by thatinstruction to become a composer. Tonight we will feature one of her most popular works    “A Calendar Set”.   A Calendar Set written in 1978charts the 12 months of the year with an imaginative flair.  The main compositional impulse for eachof these monthly etudes is descriptive, although one can admire very sturdyarchitecture throughout. Many of these months are almost Ives-ain with severalwell-known tunes sounding simultaneously. “July” pits the trio tuneof Sousa’s “Stars and Stripes Forever” against “Columbia, theGem of the Ocean” and “Yankee Doodle.”  And “December” gives us”Adeste fideles,” “Joy to the World,” “God rest ye,merry gentlemen,” “Bring a torch, Jeannette, Isabella,” and”Silent Night.”  Here wehave Christopher Atzinger performing “A Calendar Set” from the album Zaimont:Sonata – A Calendar Set     

Next we haveErwin Schulhoff’s Piano Sonata No. 3, WV. 88.  This work is in five movements I. Moderato cantabile II.Improvisazione            III.Allegro molto  IV. Marciafunèbre  V. Retrospectivo  hereperformed by   Michal Talfrom the album Erwin Schulhoff: Music for Piano Solo 

First hour ended with a live performance of Meredith Monk’s St. Petersburg Waltz which was performed live at theBang on a Can Summer Festival August 4, 2017 by Nadezda Filippova, piano           

The second hour of contemporary solo piano music on Contemporary Classics.  We will open this hour with OlivierMessiaen”s Catalogue d’Oiseaux – Le Merle Bleu (The Bluebird).  This performance by Elizabeth Dorman wasrecorded live at “Tanglewood Takes Flight” Pleasant Valley WildlifeSanctuary July 29, 2017 

Next is thesolo piano piece by Luciano Berio entitled Sequenza IV for Piano.  The Sequenzas are 14 pieces writteneach for a different solo instrument. Each is associated with a line of poetry form Italian poet Edoardo Sanguineti.  Here preceded bythe Edoardo Sanguineti Verse 4 associated with this Sequenza.  The English translation of the line ofpoetry is “I draw myself against your many mirrors, I change with my veins /with my feet: I close in all your eyes:” Enzo Salomone reads the poetic linefollowed by Aki Takahashi on the piano. This is from the album Berio: The Complete Sequenzas, AlternateSequenzas.

You havebeen listening to Aki Takahashiperforming Luciano Berio entitled Sequenza IV for Piano from the album Berio:The Complete Sequenzas, Alternate Sequenzas

Next are two pieces from  Charles Ives “From FourTranscriptions from “Emerson”: II. Moderato”  &”Study No. 9: The Anti-Abolitionist Riots in the 1830’s and 1840’s” with a performance by HeatherO’Donnell from the album Reponsesto Ives – Music of Ives With Zimmermann, Finnissy, Tenney, Corbett & Schneller

End tonight’s ContemporaryClassics with two more works by Meredith Monk from the Bang on a Can SummerFestival performed live at a concert on August 4, 2017.  First Paris featuring Georgia Mills,piano and then Railroad Song with Vicki Ray, piano.