Download Solo Faculty Recital

Program
Sonata in A Major, Kirk. 208 (ca. 1738)
Sonata in D Major, Kirk. 119 (ca. 1738)
Rondo in A Minor, K. 511 (1791)
Domenico Scarlatti
(1685-1757)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
(1756-1791)
Estampes (1903)
Pagodes
Soirée dans Grenade
Jardins sous la pluie
Claude Debussy
(1862-1918)
Intermission
Sonata in F Minor, Op. 5
Allegro
Andante
Scherzo
Intermezzo: Rückblick
Finale
This concert is sponsored by
The UTEP Department of Music
and
Ivories on the Border
Johannes Brahms
(1833-1897)
Program Notes
Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757) has been described as a modest musician with an
easy-going temperament. Originally from a musical family (his father was the famous
Italian composer Alessandro Scarlatti) of Naples, Italy, he left his homeland in 1720 to
work as the maestro of the Royal Chapel in Portugal. In particular, he was the
keyboard instructor of the Princess Maria Barbara. Following Maria Barbara when she
married the heir to the Spanish throne, Ferdinand IV, he settled in Madrid at the age
of 44 and remained there for the rest of his life as maestro de camera in the Royal
Court.
Scarlatti wrote over 600 sonatas for harpsichord, or as he called them Esercizi (etudes
no doubt for his pupil Maria Barbara). Scarlatti spent many of his days traveling from
the royal palace in Madrid to also perform at the royal residencies in the country. He
would have passed by fields, where farmers might be singing at their work or through
the streets where peasants might be dancing and strumming a guitar. We can be
certain that he paid attention to Spain’s popular music, for the proof is in his music.
The two sonatas presented today are representations of his keyboard approach to form
and style. Each sonata is in binary form (║: A :║ : B :║), with the pianist adding
stylized ornamentation to each of the repeated sections. Commonly played in pairs,
the first sonata is very close to the singing style of the tonadilla, a popular vocal genre
of Baroque Spain. The second sonata is sharply contrasting. In a lively triple meter,
this work is based upon the rhythm and flavor of the jota aragonesa (the jota being a
popular Spanish dance, and this one from the region of Aragón, which is very close to
Madrid). You can also hear the guitar-like strumming effects as well as the dissonant
chords called acciaccaturas, which Scarlatti based on popular guitar chords. These
esercizi translate beautifully to today’s modern piano.
The Rondo in A Minor, K. 511, was the last of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's (17561791) piano compositions and has been described as "the most beautiful piece among
all the rondos for clavier in the Classic Period." Ernest Hutcheson, the famed piano
student of Liszt, wrote that "the Rondo is truly representative of Mozart's piano idiom
at its best, touchingly beautiful, perfect...in form and content, and wonderfully
rounded out by the deep emotion of the coda." Pianists agree that the simple sounding
music of Mozart requires every bit of skill a performer can muster. The deceptive
transparency of this rondo offers the pianist no place to hide.
In 1903 Claude Debussy (1862-1918) composed a set of three pieces for piano called
Estampes (Engravings). In the first piece Pagodes (Pagodas), Debussy evokes the images
of Eastern lands through the use of the pentatonic scale; a sound he was fond of and
used in several of his works. The second movement Soirée dans Grenade (Evening in
Granada), depicts his impressions of southern Spain—particularly in his application of
rhythm and harmony. He based the work on the habanera rhythm, a dance pulse that
was very popular in Spain, and the lush harmonies sound typically similar to those
found in southern Spain, or Andalucía. The Spanish composer Manuel de Falla
expressed his admiration for Debussy’s authenticity to the Andalusian sound (Debussy
never once visited this area of southern Spain). The last piece, Jardins sous la pluie
(Gardens in the Rain), is an exciting example of Debussy’s tonal language, rich in
change of color and dramatic in movement and direction. It is based on two French
folksongs: “Nous n’irons plus au Bois” and “Do do, l’enfant do.”
It is hard to believe that the Piano Sonata No. 3 in F Minor, Op. 5 by Johannes
Brahms (1833-1897) was written by a twenty year old composer, and yet this work was
completed by the young Brahms in conjunction with two other large-scale sonatas,
written within the years of 1852-1853. This pieces falls into the time line of Brahms’
life when he had barely met Robert and Clara Schumann and stayed at their home for
approximately one month, playing music daily for them and also meeting many of
their friends. The work was finished just prior to leaving their house. This five
movement work contains a large opening Allegro in sonata form, a lyrical Andante¸ a
technically demanding Scherzo¸ a miniature Intermezzo entitled “Rückblick,” or glance
to the past, and a concluding Finale.
This afternoon’s soloist has a particular love for the slow movements of the work, the
Andante and the Intermezzo. These two movements were actually composed first. If
one turns to the Andante piano score, one will see the first three lines of a poem by C.
O. Sternau, Junge Liebe (Young Love), included in the publication of the work by
Brahms’ editor. In his article entitled “The ‘Poetic’ Andantes of the Piano Sonatas,”
George S. Bozarth makes the compelling case for the whole poem being the basis for
composition. The Intermezzo movement seems to have been based on a Sternau poem
as well: a poem called “Bitte.” This poem was found in one of Brahms’ poetry books,
and the words of the poem could be sung to the music, form, harmony, melody and
texture of the movement. In the opinion of this particular pianist, she feels that the
profound beauty of the slow movements make this huge work one of the greatest in
the piano repertoire.
Junge Liebe (Young Love)
Der Abend dämmert, das Mondlicht scheint
Twilight is falling, moonlight shines,
Da Sind zqei Herzen in Liebe vereint
there two hearts are united in love
Und halten sich selig umfangen.
and keep themselves enclosed in bliss.
Es weht und rauschet furch die Luft
It wafts and rustles through the air,
Als brächten die Rosen all ihren Duft,
as if the roses were yielding their fragrance,
Als käamen die Englein gegangen.
as if the little angels came on foot.
Ich küsse Dich zum ersten Mal,
Ich küsse Dich viel tausend Mal.
Ich küsse Dich immer wieder;
Auf Deine Wangen lange Zeit
Rollt manche Träne der Seligkeit
Wie eine Perle nieder.
I kiss you for the first time,
I kiss you many thousand times.
I kiss you again and again;
Down your cheeks, for a long time,
roll many tears of blissfulness,
like pearls.
Die Stunde verrauscht, der Morgen scheint,
Wir sind noch immer in Liebe wereint
Und halten sich selig umfangen.
Es weht und rauschet furch die Luft
Als brächten die Rosen all ihren Duft,
Als käamen die Englein gegangen.
The hours pass away, the morning appears,
we are still united in love.
And keep themselves enclosed in bliss.
It wafts and rustles through the air,
as if the roses were yielding their fragrance,
as if the little angels came on foot.
O wüßtest du, wie bald, wie bald
Die Bäume welk und kahl der Wald
Du wärst so kalt un lieblos nicht
Und suahst mir freundlich ins Gesicht!
Bitte (Request)
O, if only you knew how soon, how soon
the tree withers and the forest is barren,
if you would not be so cold and loveless
and would look me in the face in a
friendly manner!
Ein Jahr ist jurz und jurz die Zeit
Wo Liebeslust and und Glück gedeiht,
Wie bald kommt dann der trübe Tag,
An dem verstummt des Herzen Schlag.
O schau mich nicht so lieblos an,
Kurz ist die Zeit und kurz der Wahn!
Der Liebe Selightkeit un Glück
Bringt keine Träne dir zurück!
A year is short, and short is the time,
for the delight and bliss of love to thrive,
how soon then comes the sad day
for the silencing of the heart’s beat.
O, do not look at me so lovelessly,
Short is the time and short the delusion!
The blessedness and the bliss of love
Brings back no tears to you!