performed by John O’Conor no. 2 and no. 3 None have quite attained to these vague eolian harmonies, these half-formed sighs floating through the air, softly lamenting and dissolved in delicious melancholy. Nobody has even attempted this peculiar style, … Continue reading John Field: Nocturnes, H. 24-26
performed by an unknown pianist from some recording I acquired somehow, or below by Irina Emeliantseva Nikolai Andreevich Roslavets was born on January 4 1881 (23 December, 1880 in the Julian Calendar) (possibly) in the Chernigov Governorate (a day less than … Continue reading Nikolai Roslavets: Piano Sonata no. 1
performed by Matti Raekaillo, or below by Boris Berman The second sonata of Sergei Prokofiev was first performed on February 5, 1914 by the composer in Moscow. It is dedicated to Maximilian Schmidthof, to whom the composer’s second piano concerto (which … Continue reading Prokofiev Piano Sonata no. 2 in Dm, op. 14
performed by Santiago Rodriguez I’m quite glad we were able to discuss the Medtner sonata earlier this week, because today we’re discussing a work of equally epic pianistic and musical proportions, similarly Russian in nature, but also in many ways entirely … Continue reading Rachmaninoff Piano Sonata in Dm, op. 28
performed by Vladimir Ashkenazy, or below by Nikolai Lugansky Rachmaninoff! Also been a while since we’ve seen this guy. I actually had no intentions of duplicating so many of the composers from last year’s Russian Symphony series in this piano … Continue reading Rachmaninoff: Variations on a theme of Chopin, op. 22
performed by Geoffrey Tozer In case you haven’t ever heard of Nikolai Medtner, I’d like to make the case that this, one of his earliest compositions, is undeniably one of the greatest things ever composed in the history of history. … Continue reading Nikolai Medtner: Piano sonata in f minor, op. 5
performed by Vladimir Ashkenazy (or for those of you to whom the above video is unavailable, another one here by Richter) Life is fearfully expensive, and the climate is rotten. The air in the areas where we could find an apartment … Continue reading Scriabin Piano Sonata no. 5, op. 53
performed by Vladimir Ashkenazy Oh, let’s not talk about this! This is a ghastly piece! […] I was in an appalling situation back then. This Prelude, and also the Marche funebre in the First Sonata formed in moments disheartenment… But … Continue reading Scriabin: Four Pieces, op. 51
performed by Vladimir Ashkenazy or below by Ivo Pogorelich Two little things today, sketches from Scriabin, as if he’s working out ideas in preparation for something truly monumental. The ‘two poems’ date from 1903, and are as follows: No. 1 … Continue reading Scriabin: Deux Poèmes, op. 32
performed by Vladimir Ashkenazy Well, it hasn’t been as long since we’ve visited Scriabin. He was part of the the Russian Symphony Series and the Symphonic Poem series, but aside from his multiple symphonies and other orchestral work, he arguably made his … Continue reading Scriabin Piano Sonata no. 4 in F-sharp major, Op. 30
performed by Sviatoslav Richter History does funny things to music. In the more famous cases (as we shall shortly see why), the world nearly forgot about something, or ignored it, or derided it, and it was only later generations or geniuses who … Continue reading Tchaikovsky Grand Piano Sonata in G, op. 37
performed by Đặng Thái Sơn or below by Vladimir Ashkenazy And here he is! Like I mentioned in the article on his first quartet over the weekend, it’s been nearly a whole year since we’ve touched on anything of one of the most … Continue reading Tchaikovsky: The Seasons, op. 37a
performed by Nicolas Economou or below by Mikhail Pletnev (much more on recordings below) Here we are in October, and with the first piano piece of the month’s piano-focused series, with a small tip of the hat to what we’ll … Continue reading Modest Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition
It has been a good long while since we’ve done any piano stuff, but it’s actually been longer since last year’s Russian Symphony 2015 series that lasted three whole months. Granted, in those three months, we covered 20 symphonies, but at … Continue reading Russian Piano 2016: a series
with Dr. Katelyn Bouska | Listen here or in iTunes Have you ever had that experience of having a connection with music that you discovered, so that it seemed like yours? Disregard the fact that hundreds (of thousands) of other people … Continue reading Podcast: Illuminating Ištvan
performed by David Oistrakh and Sviatoslav Richter Dmitri had been wanting to write a new, second concerto for me as a present for my 60th birthday. However, there was an error of one year in his timing. The concerto was … Continue reading Shostakovich Sonata for Violin and Piano in G, Op. 134
performed by David Tudor, or the first below by Herbert Henck II here, also played by Henck So… Karlheinz Stockhausen… I have decided that in the future, for composers getting their first post here on the blog, I will include their … Continue reading Stockhausen: Klavierstücke I-IV
performed by Pierre-Laurent Aimard, or the first Notation performed by the composer, also below We start off our discussion of the Darmstadt school with Pierre Boulez. Needless to say, this is going to be a tough month of articles, for … Continue reading Boulez: Douze Notations
performed by Peter Hill, or below by Yvonne Loriod, the composer’s second wife (please be aware that you can find the specific times for the beginning of each etude in the description of the above video, which I have copied … Continue reading Messiaen: Quatre études de rythme
performed by Peter Hill, or below by Hakon Austbo “Preludes to what?” is a question that has been asked many a time by someone approaching likely far more often-performed preludes, like those of Chopin, Debussy, or Scriabin, but it is a … Continue reading Messiaen: Huit préludes
I had started this article before the concert with a small introduction and basic thoughts. Scratch it all. But if you don’t get to anything else, look at the program and jump to the subtitle below. There’s something inexplicably magical … Continue reading Hélène Grimaud’s ‘Water Reflection’
Fugue for Thought 