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The work begins with a Prelude which is in the style of a
fanfare. Thick in texture and full
of large chords, it serves to draw the attention of the audience
to the Pantomime scenes that are to
follow.
The Harlequin, a primitive nave and simple character serenades
his lover, the maid,
Colombine. The primary aspects of the Harlequin are his physical
agility that greatly outweighed his
mental capacities. Colored in deep earth tones with warm colored
diamond shaped patches ; he is a
mixture of ignorance, wit, stupidity and grace and is always
ready to spring into action in a clumsy,
yet graceful manner. His crisp, staccato movements and his
guttural singing, hoarse from street
hawking are captured in the two themes. Schutt juggles with both
themes in the middle of the piece,
one in either hand, spicing up the scene.
Colombine is in love with the Harlequin, but married to
Pierre.The sorrowful melody in
Tristesse de Colombine portrays her sad reply to the
Harlequin.The accompaniment figures play an
important part in adding colour and intensity to the piece.The
theme ascends at times and descends
at others, perhaps symbolizing the vacillating behavior of
Colombine.
The hunchback, Polichinellesometimes master and sometimes
servant is manifested by
the two themes in this piece. The flavor here is Viennese and
the climax Russian, a real insight into
Schutts life. There are two pregnant pauses before the end which
do not deliver anything, lending to
the burlesque character of this scherzando
Pierrot Reveur(Peter the Dreamer) is expressed thorough a
nocturnette. It has a delicate,
dreamy, sentimental melody which builds into a stormy outburst
of passion. It returns to the opening
melody before fading away. The accompanying figures add to the
beauty of the Nocturnette.
Caprice -Sganarelle. This piece is full of sudden impulses and
eccentric vagaries as is
the character of Sganarelle. He is also known to be very
possessive about his wife. The melodic
middle section divides the eccentric outer sections. A volatile
coda brings this caprice to an end.
MEAGAN
ALPHONSO
Programme Notes
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Fantasia Op.77
Beethoven (1770-1827)
Completed in October, 1809, the Fantasia for Piano in G minor,
Op. 77, was commis-
sioned by Muzio Clementi (1752-1832). That Beethoven composed
this flight of fancy when he did is
somewhat ironic, for he was attempting, for the first time in
his life, to settle down, live without hotels
and restaurants and to establish a real "home". Carl Czerny
(1791-1857), a composer who studied
piano with Beethoven in 1801-3, described the Fantasy, Op. 77 as
variations "in a mixed form, one
idea following into another as in a potpourri." The Fantasy
passes through eight key areas, three
changes of metre and numerous changes in tempo. Possibly no
other work reflects Beethoven's
tendency toward improvisation as much as this piece.
Danzas Fantasticas Op.22
Joaquin Turina (1882-1949)
Joaqun Turina was a Spanish composer of classical music.
Dedicated to his wife, Obdulia
Garzon, the Danzas fantsticas, Op. 22, is a set of 3 dances-
Exaltacion, Ensueno and Orgia and is
his best known work. Written in 1919, the work was inspired by
the novel La Orga by Jos Mas..
The score to each of the dances is headed by a mysterious
epigraph from the novel:
1. Exaltacin (Elation or Ectasy)
It appears as if the figures in that incomparable painting move
within the calyx of a flower.
It reminds you, from a distance, of the jota from Aragon wrote
Turina
2. Orga (Orgy)
The perfume of the flowers mixes with the aroma of dry sherry
and merriment rises like
incense from the depth of the narrow glasses filled with
matchless wine.
This is a farruca from Andalusia, with flamenco ornaments and
filigree, falsetas
(interludes) of the guitar, hesitating in Gypsy style and the
jipios (instrumental introductions of cante
jondo (flamenco vocal style) - wrote Turiina.
Rhapsody in G minor Op.79 no.2
Brahms (1833 - 1897)
Brahms maybe described as the great conservative of the Romantic
era. His music is
serene, thoughtful and profound. It is characterized by fullness
of sonority and balanced chord figura-
tions.
In 1880, Brahms composed the Rhapsody in G Minor, op. 79 No. 2.
It is a one-movement
work that is episodic yet integrated, free-flowing in structure,
featuring a range of highly contrasted
moods, colour and tonality. This Rhapsody embodies the best of
Brahms ability to balance an emo-
tional, harmonic and melodic language within the boundaries of
Classical form.
Valse Caprice Op.4 no.1
Josef Holbrooke (1878 1958)
Josef Holbrooke was an English composer, conductor, and pianist.
The caprice is a set of
variations on a famous English nursery rhyme and musical round,
Three Blind Mice.
Carnival Mignon Op.48
Eduard Schutt (1856 - 1933)
Born in St Petersburg, Eduard Schutts (of Austrian descent) love
of music caused him to
give up a career in commerce and led him to study first at the
St Petersburg Conservatory and sub-
sequently at the Leipzig Conservatory. In 1878, he went to
Vienna to be the conductor of the
Akademischer Wagner-Verein where he conducted the music of the
Strauss family, many of whose
waltzes he transcribed for the piano.
Carnival Mignon, (Pantomime Scenes) op 48, was written in 1895.
It is a set of 6 pieces,
full of contrast, based on the characters in La Commedia dell
Arte which literally means Artistic
Comedy.
