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Honorary patronage of the concert: Clara Celati Director of the Cultural Italian Institute in Krakow
F. Chopin, Rondeau in E flat major, op. 16 F. Liszt, Piano Sonata in B minor (S. 178) ----------------------------- J. S. Bach, Italian Concerto in F major (BWV 971) 1. Allegro2. Andante 3. Presto D. Szostakowicz, Prelude and Fugue in D flat major, op. 87, no. 15 I. Strawiński Three Movements from "Petrushka" 1. Russian Dance2. In Petrushka's Cell 3. Shrovetide Fair
Emotion and thought in music All of Chopin's works titled as rondeaux were written in Warsaw in 1825-1828 and 1832-33. Their music - playful and bold - is full of youthful joy and fun, and from a pianist point of view, its virtuosity is combined with folk music elements. Rondeau E flat major op. 16, was composed in early Paris years in 1833 and represents Paris kind of brilliant style. Its form is kept in post classical tradition and additionally has a broad introduction and sparkling coda. Sonata B minor by Franz Liszt written in 1853 is the only one in his works list. It has been perceived as a masterpiece of XIX century piano literature. It was nicknamed by Brahms as a 'rhetorical fantasy', and brings not only technical difficulties but also emotional load. Its complicated form slips away from classical form rules - the piece consists only of one part, and in the middle we can distinguish couple of evolution phases. Five musical thoughts are connected together with motifs and their character makes it various. An introductory theme appears in all fragments, the first main theme has something in common with Faust Symphony, the second one is a monumental grandioso, the third one is lyrical and nocturne like, and the fourth one is a cantilena of slow part. The whole form of the sonata consists of exposition, musical development and reprise, in which the beginning is a fugue in rondeau character. Italian Concerto by J.S. Bach was written for harpsichord solo. It is a cyclic three-part form, in which Bach obeyed the concertino vs. tutti duell rule. The composer divided the piece into two keyboards of harpsichord with 'forte' and 'piano' implications. In between two more lively parts he put slower 'air' followed by a daring Presto. At 200 annivereasy of $J. S. Bach's death, in 1950 - 1951 Dymitr Schostakovitsch wrote 24 piano preludes and fugues, being inspired with Das wohltemperierte Klavier. This two volumes cycle was designed - as the composer wrote - 'not as a cyclic oeuvre but as a series of the pieces not connected with each other with a single common thought'. We can find here pieces referring to Bach (Prelude C sharp minor), and to Musorgsky's musical dramas (Prelude E flat minor), dramatic, grotesque and lyrical compositions. Schostakovitsch blended Bach's fugue with his own musical language and style. Good example of that could be fugue D flat major nr 15, in which tonality is more imaginary. In Preludes and fugues, Schostakovitsch emphasises national character, deeply connected to Russian classical tradition. Three fragments from Petrushka by Igora Stravinsky written in 1921 are transcribed from the ballet Petrushka - 'choreographic burlesque in four images' composed through 1910 - 1911. After Firebird's success Stravinsky decided to write an orchestral work, in which the piano would play leading part'. Petrushka is an amazing and original piece, very personal, in which the composer used literally rough and 'angular' sounds, interwove folk motifs and introduced innovative instrumentation and new formal and aesthetic concept. Joanna ¦lusarczyk |
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