Piano Ensemble

Thursday, May 17, 2018 at 8pm Lagerquist Concert Hall, Mary Baker Russell Music Center

Pacific Lutheran University School of Arts and Communication / Department of Music presents

Piano Ensemble

Diana Walker, director

Thursday, May 17, 2018 at 8pm Lagerquist Concert Hall, Mary Baker Russell Music Center

Welcome to Lagerquist Concert Hall. Please disable the audible signal on all watches, pagers and cellular phones for the duration of the concert. Use of cameras, recording equipment and all digital devices is not permitted in the concert hall.

PROGRAM

Libertango ...... Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992) Elliot Peterson and Reid Wolch

Capriol Suite ...... Peter Warlock (1894-1930) Basse-Danse Pavane Mattachins (Sword Dance) Sarah Hoenig and Sejin Lee

Scaramouche ...... Darius Milhaud (1892-1974) Brazileira Julie Chu and Emery Kim

Carnival of the Animals ...... Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921) Le cygne (The Swan) Pianistes (Pianists) Fossiles (Fossils) Olivia Crocker and Marina Prots

L’Arlesienne Suite No. 2 ...... Georges Bizet (1838-1875) Farandole Brett Rodriguez and Rachel Sandell

Fantasy in F Minor, op. 102, D. 940 ...... (1797-1828) Scherzo Sarah Hoenig and Sejin Lee

“Waltz” from Masquerade...... Aram Khachaturian (1903-1978) Julie Chu and Alex Jones

L’Apprenti Sorcier (The Sorcerer’s Apprentice) ...... Paul Dukas (1865-1935) Elliot Peterson and Austin Schend

Program Notes

Libertango, published by the Argentinian composer, Astor Piazzolla, in 1974, derives its name from libertad, meaning “liberty” in Spanish, and tango, a form of Argentinian partner dancing. The Libertango, which has become internationally famous since its publication, represents an important shift in Piazzolla’s composition style. Prior to writing Libertango, Piazzolla wrote tango dances in a traditional style that was based on ; with Libertango, Piazzolla broke with tradition and incorporated elements of jazz and classical music into the tango. This fusion of jazz and classical music with the traditional tango forms (known as tango nuevo) became a hallmark of Piazzolla’s subsequent compositional style.

The Capriol Suite is one of the most popular works by Peter Warlock (real name: Philip Heseltine). It is a set of dances in the renaissance style which is expressed through individual movements. Each movement reveals a different style of dancing. The audience should hear that the first movement, Basse-Dance, is a lively dance for older folk. The second movement, Pavane, carries a heavy and majestic atmosphere. Finally, the last movement, Sword Dance, is a dance that portrays men pretending to be in a sword fight. Differences in tempo and articulations give each movement a unique character. Interestingly, the piece at first was made for a piano-duet which expanded to be played by full .

Brazilerira is the finale of a three-movement Suite "Scaramouche" composed by Darius Milhaud. The movements are written from he composed for a children’s play and from his to the play Bolivar. The third movement is strongly influenced by Brazilian musical language, Milhaud’s voice is brought out in the style of the Samba in a rumba tempo. The title of the Suite comes from one of the stock characters, “a clown of the commedia dell’arte,” Italy’s version of sixteenth-century slapstick, and in the third movement we can find the charms of the Scaramouche as it grabs your attention, delivers the goods, and gets out the door.

The Carnival of the Animals by Saint-Saëns was initially intended as a comedy and, fearing its light-hearted nature would become more popular than his serious works, he demanded it not be published before his death. The exception to this rule was Le Cygne (The Swan) which the famous ballerina Anna Pavlova demanded be published so she could dance to it. Pianistes, which takes a different turn, embodies the more comical Spirit of the carnival, while seemingly just finger drills, provides a harmonic introduction to Fossils. The energetic piece, Fossils, blends some familiar folk tunes together, the folk tunes are the actual “fossils” of the piece. Listen to see what you recognize.

L’Arlesienne Suite No. 2 (Farandole) Better known by his baptized name (Georges Bizet), Alexandre-Cesar-Leopold Bizet was born in , , and became a composer at a young age. He is best known for his , , though his piano suites for four hands are notable for their beauty and excitable innocence. Suite No. 2, “Farandole,” begins with a regal proclamation of the Christmas carol The March of the Three Kings before working up to a new melody and faster allegro section that expands on the established melody. The suite builds in excitement all the way up to the climactic finale. Bizet’s most famous work, Carmen, was not initially a success and he died suddenly after the first few performances, never knowing he had written a smash hit. He was only 36 and many have speculated at what he would have created with more time.

“Scherzo” from Fantasia in F minor for piano four hands, was composed in the last year of Schubert’s life. While Franz Schubert might have only lived 31 short years, he was a prolific composer, with over 1,500 works. While his works were only known in his native Austria during his lifetime, his piano works, Lieder, Opera, and chamber and orchestral works hold a valuable place in classical repertoire. The allegro vivace scherzo is in a standard ABA scherzo form, with a light hearted melody in F minor that is contrasted with a short D major trio in between the two A sections. Listen for the interplay between that primo and secondo as they enter contrapuntally throughout the piece. The scherzo is a bright, lively work with quicksilver changes of mood often alternating between major and minor in successive phrases which give this work an intriguing tonal sparkle.

Masquerade, by Mikhail Lemontov, considered the supreme poet of Russian literature alongside Pushkin and the greatest figure in Russian , was revived in Moscow in 1941, and Khachaturian was asked to write incidental music for it. The play, the Russian version of Othello, deals with the aristocracy of Czarist Russia, and in order to get the flavor of that period in Russian music, Khachaturian immersed himself in romances and waltzes from Lemontov’s time. The symphonic suite contains some of Khachaturian’s most frequently heard melodies, such as the first movement, “Waltz,” which is probably the most familiar. The play was the last production staged by the theatre before the invasion of the USSR by Germany during WWII, and the production run was cut short. What we get is something that waffles between sorrow and joy. We know it’s a waltz, obviously, from name alone and the sound of it, but it isn’t a free-spirited or particularly joyful dance. Probably one of the darkest waltzes ever written.

L’Apprenti Sorcier (The Sorcerer's Apprentice) is a by the French composer, Paul Dukas. The composition is subtitled “Scherzo after a ballad by Goethe” as it is based on a 1797 poem of the same name by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. This work is part of the genre of symphonic poems, a Romantic-era form of programmatic music that tells descriptive stories through suggestive uses of melody, harmony, and timbre; L’apprenti sorcier follows the structure of the original Goethe poem particularly closely. This piece has become popular in the concert hall and is probably most famous for its use in the 1940 Walt Disney animated film Fantasia, in which Mickey Mouse has the role of the apprentice. The original version of L’apprenti sorcier was written for a large orchestra, but Dukas subsequently rewrote the piece for piano duo, the version which will be heard tonight.

About the Performers

Advanced pianists, compared to the general population, constitute a tiny minority. These skills are a result of hours and hours of years and years of lessons and practice. Most of these pianists come from a background of between ten and eighteen years of study. They represent many disciplines since not all are music majors. In addition to the Piano Majors and Composition Majors there are people majoring or minoring in Economics, Bio-chem, History, Accounting, Creative Writing, Education and Computer science.

POP QUIZ: HOW WELL DO YOU KNOW THE COMPOSERS?

1.What composer was so well known for his love of sweets, that guests usually brought him desserts when they visited? 2. What composer numbered among his students Olivier Messiaen and Joaquin Rodrigo? 3. What composer was even more of a musical prodigy than Mozart? 4. What composer at the age of 10 offered to play any of Beethoven’s 32 piano sonatas as an encore? 5. What composer worked as a music critic and contributed stories to five music journals? 6. What composer taught at both the Aspen Music Festival in Colorado and the Paris Conservatoire? 7. What composer transcribed Elizabethan music, making much of this early music available to the general public for the first time? 8. What composer’s music perfectly combines hot Latin rhythms with cool jazz harmonies? 9. What composer was interested in American jazz and Middle Eastern music (hint, he died in Egypt.) 10. What composer marched in Beethoven’s funeral cortege and lamented that “After Beethoven, there is nothing left to write.”? 11. What composer taught the jazz pianist, Dave Brubeck? 12. What composer was such a perfectionist that he destroyed much of his music? 13. What composer worked 16 hours a day transcribing music to make a living? 14. What composer told his students, "Don't be afraid of writing something people can remember and whistle. Don't ever feel discomfited by a melody.”?

Answers: 1. Georges Bizet/ 2. Paul Dukas/ 3. Camille Saint-Saens/ 4. Camille Saint-Saens/ 5. Paul Dukas/ 6. Darius Milhaud/ 7. Peter Warlock/ 8. Astor Piazzolla/ 9. Camille Saint-Saens/ 10. Franz Schubert/ 11. Darius Milhaud/ 12. Paul Dukas/ 13. Georges Bizet/ 14. Darius Milhaud