Sponsored in part by the Helen Wattles Fund, supporting young artists at The Gilmore

Sunday, December 4, 2016 | 4 PM Wellspring Theater, Kalamazoo, Michigan

PAVEL KOLESNIKOV, piano C.P.E. BACH Keyboard Sonata in A Major, H. 186 Allegro assai Poco adagio Allegro BEETHOVEN Piano Sonata No. 10, Op. 14 No. 2 Allegro Andante Scherzo: Allegro assai CHOPIN

Scherzo No. 4, Op. 54 : INTERMISSION :

DEBUSSY Préludes, Book I Danseuses de Delphes Voiles Le vent dans la plaine Les sons et les parfums tournent dans l’air du soir Les collines d’Anacapri Des pas sur la neige Ce qu’a vu le vent d’Ouest La fille aux cheveux de lin La sérénade interrompue La Cathédrale engloutie La danse de Puck Minstrels

CONCERT SPONSORS THREE RIVERS FRIENDS OF THE GILMORE

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ABOUT THE ARTIST

PAVEL KOLESNIKOV Following Russian pianist Pavel Kolesnikov’s Wigmore Hall debut in January 2014, The Telegraph gave his recital a rare five-star review and called it “one of the most memorable of such occasions London has witnessed in a while.” He was Prize Laureate of the Honens Prize for Piano in 2012, and was named one of BBC Radio 3’s New Generation Artists for 2014 to 2016. A live recording of his prize-winning performances was released on the Honens label in March 2013, about which the BBC Music Magazine wrote “tremendous clarity, unfailing musicality and considerable beauty.” Last June, his debut studio recording was released on the Hyperion label to critical acclaim. Significant recital and festival appearances resulting from the Honens Prize include Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall, Berlin’s Konzerthaus, the Louvre (Paris), Vancouver Recital Society, La Jolla Music Society, Spoleto Festival USA, Canada’s Ottawa Chamberfest and Banff Summer Arts Festival, and the United Kingdom’s Plush Music Festival. Recent and upcoming orchestral appearances include Russia’s National Philharmonic, London Philharmonic, Philharmonia Orchestra, Orquestra Sinfônica Brasileira, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and Calgary Philharmonic. The London-based Kolesnikov was born in Siberia into a family of scientists. He studied both the piano and violin for ten years, before concentrating solely on the piano. He has studied at Moscow State Conservatory with Sergei Dorensky, at London’s Royal College of Music with Norma Fisher, and at Brussels’ Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel with Maria João Pires thanks to the generous support of Mr. Christopher D. Budden, the RCM Scholarship Foundation, and Hattori Foundation. Pavel is the RCM Benjamin Britten Piano Fellow for 2015-2016, studying on the Artist Diploma course. 2 | THEGILMORE.ORG

CARL PHILIPP EMANUEL BACH Born March 8, 1714, in Weimar, Germany Died December 14, 1788, in Hamburg, Germany

Keyboard Sonata in A Major, H. 186 Composed in 1765

Upon attaining financial independence and jobs of their own, the three of Johann Sebastian’s sons who went into music quickly disassociated themselves from their father to adopt a more contemporary style. Johann Sebastian’s second son, Carl Philipp Emanuel, is best known today as a composer of delightfully “quirky” music, characterized by expressive pauses, chromatic harmonies and the juxtaposition of oddly unrelated phrases. These qualities, however, were not regarded as quirky in their time; they are associated with two related stylistic categories prevalent in mid-eighteenthcentury Germany: the Empfindsamer Stil (expressive style) and the Sturm und Drang (storm and stress style). Much of Emanuel’s music also belonged to the galant style, which, although somewhat less dramatically expressive, was the more direct forerunner of the sonata form and the music of the Classical period. For nearly 30 years, starting in 1740, Bach’s patron was the proficient flutist and musically conservative King Frederick the Great of Prussia. Their relationship was difficult at best, and when Bach finally managed to wangle his way out of the king’s employ in 1767, there was apparently little love lost between the two. Bach went on to Hamburg as Kantor and music director, a position vacated by his godfather Georg Phillip Telemann.

employ of King Frederick, he wrote Versuch über die wahre Art das Clavier zu spielen (Essay on the True Art of Keyboard Playing), the most significant German treatise on the subject in the eighteenth century. He also composed concertos for various instruments and many orchestral works titled sinfonia (forerunner of the Classical symphony). The Sonata in A Major, composed in 1765, is one of a group of six published in 1779 as Sechs Clavier-Sonaten für Kenner und Liebhaber (Six Keyboard Sonatas for Experts and Amateurs). The first movement of this sonata focuses more on virtuosic playing than on emotional expression. Even the poignant slow movement, while more expressive, contains numerous complicated ornaments that would challenge the most adroit young lady (for whom these were primarily intended). The final movement combines virtuosity and expressiveness and contains the unusual harmonic progressions and pregnant pauses with which the composer is generally associated. It should also be noted that all three movements are in binary form, the forerunner of sonata-allegro form. In this sense, they are similar in structure to the sonatas of Domenico Scarlatti, the principal difference being that the older composer, of Johann Sebastian Bach’s generation, would have labeled each movement as a separate piece.

Bach specialized in keyboard works, including over 200 sonatas. While in the 2016 -2017 Rising Stars Series | 3

LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN Born December 16, 1770, in Bonn, Germany Died March 26, 1827, in Vienna, Austria

Piano Sonata No. 10, Op. 14 No. 2 Composed in 1798-1799

Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No.10 was probably composed in 1798, although some sketches date from as early as 1795. It was published a year later, together with its sister sonata in E Major, and shortly after the far more popular No. 8, known as the Pathetique. This was a time when Beethoven’s fortunes seemed to be steadily on the rise. He was in great demand as pianist and teacher, he was able to have his music readily published, and he had numerous friends and patrons among Vienna’s royalty, aristocracy and upper bourgeoisie. He even claimed to have more commissions than he could handle. Among the first generation of freelance composers, Beethoven worked out a system to maximize his financial benefit from the commissions. The recipient would agree to pay a fixed amount for a piece for his or her exclusive use for a set period of time (six months to a year or longer). After this time, Beethoven was free to publish it and receive all the profits from its sale. It is not known whether the Op. 14 Sonatas were written on commission. Beethoven dedicated them, however, to Baroness Josefine von Braun, wife of the court theater director Baron Peter von Braun who was in charge of date allocations at the Burgtheater and Kärntnertor Theater, the two most desirable performance venues in Vienna. Beethoven had sought unsuccessfully in previous years to obtain a date in either venue to perform his music, but in 1800,

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perhaps aided by the dedication, he presented at the Burgtheater on April 2nd a concert described in the newspapers as “the most interesting concert in a long time.” That Beethoven had a particular kind of pianist in mind is reflected in both the Op. 14 sonatas. They are short, relatively simple in style—even conventional—and relatively undemanding for the pianist; the pair would have been designed to sell briskly to pianists of modest ability who wanted to be able to play a work by one of the leading composers of the day. But, while they may be easy to play, they are not necessarily easy to play well. Their open texture is paired with subtle syncopations and irregularity of phrasing that require a pianist of the first quality to bring it off with the subtlety the pieces deserve. The mood of the G Major Sonata is upbeat and light-hearted; it has been described as “a glorious little comedy.” One unusual feature of the work is the lack of contrast in mood and pacing among its three movements. The first movement is in simple sonata allegro form, the second a set of three variations, and the third is a rondo but labeled “Scherzo.” The expansive coda in the final movement is the only unusual formal element of the entire work.

FRÉDÉRIC CHOPIN Born March 1, 1810, in Żelazowa Wola, Poland Died October 17, 1849, in Paris, France

Scherzo No. 4, Op. 54 Composed in 1842

In the days of the early Baroque, the term “scherzo” (joke) denoted a light-hearted vocal piece or a movement of a larger instrumental composition. Beethoven firmly established the form as a substitute for the traditional minuet and contrasting trio movement of the classical symphony and sonata, from which it derived its fundamental structure and repeat patterns. By 1831, four years after Beethoven’s death, when Chopin composed the first of his Scherzos, the form was already firmly entrenched. Chopin was one of the first composers, however, to use the term for an independent instrumental composition. While retaining the basic structure of the traditional scherzo, gone are the remnants of its dance origins. Moreover, Chopin’s four Scherzos are anything but light or joking. Robert Schumann commented “How is ‘gravity’ to clothe itself, if ‘jest’ goes about in dark veils?”

Composed in 1842, the E Major Scherzo is probably the most light-hearted of the four. Its publication in 1843 points out the dangers of hasty dedications. The German edition was dedicated to one of Chopin’s students, Mlle. Jeanne de Caraman. For reasons unknown, at the last minute Chopin decided to dedicate the Paris edition to Jeanne’s sister Clothilde, also one of his students. But the decision came too late, and the title page with Jeanne’s name was already printed. A clumsy attempt to alter the page was too embarrassing, and a new title page had to be printed for the new edition. The awkwardly altered page of the first Paris edition is now a valuable collector’s item. The uneven phrases and juxtaposition of chordal passages and light-textured filigree give this Scherzo a whimsical air. The trio, however, is in the minor mode with a contrasting, languorous moodiness.

CLAUDE DEBUSSY Born August 22, 1862, in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France Died March 25, 1918, in Paris, France

Préludes, Book I

Composed in 1909-10 The Préludes are among Debussy’s late works for piano. They are short pieces, evoking a mood, an image or even the personality of a specific individual. Composed in 1909-

1910 (Book I) and 1911-1913 (Book II), they belong to a tradition of French keyboard music dating back to the seventeenth century and the works of the Couperin family and 2016 -2017 Rising Stars Series | 5

Jean-Philippe Rameau, and in the nineteenth century to the character pieces for piano by Robert Schumann.

warm summer evening. In this case, the swirling is considerably more languid than in the preceding prélude.

The Préludes are deliberately referential, each one containing programmatic, visual and musical allusions readily familiar to the composer’s contemporaneous audience. Curiously, however, Debussy placed the titles at the end of each prelude. Maybe music came first, title later, or perhaps so as not to prejudice the performer encountering them for the first time.

5. Les collines d’Anacapri (The Hills of Anacapri) and Des pas sur la neige (Footsteps in the Snow) were written on consecutive days, December 26 and 27, 1909. The shifting of tempi and moods in Les colline d’Anacapri, is summery. The contrasting sections hint of church bells and even an Italian folksong, almost as if different activities are taking place on the hillsides, their sounds carrying across a valley.

Most of the Préludes are in ternary (ABA) form, the middle section providing either contrast or an alternative take on the principal theme. 1. Danseuses de Delphes (The Dancers of Delphi). In ancient Greece, Delphi was considered the center of the world, its temple dedicated to Apollo, the god of music, poetry and prophecy, and leader of the Muses. Debussy is said to have been inspired by a caryatid he had seen at an exhibition at the Louvre. The music evokes the presumably slow ritual dances portrayed on Greek vases.

6. The imagery of Des pas sur la neige by contrast, is decidedly wintry, reflecting the stillness of the atmosphere when sounds are dampened by a blanket of snow. For the pianist, the challenge is to sustain subtle shadings of pianissimo. 7. Ce qu’a vu le vent d’Ouest (What the West Wind has Seen). A stormy contrast with the serene previous prélude. It opens with an agitated rhythmic figure in the bass and gradually builds up tension that eventually erupts with anger.

2. Voiles (Veils or Sails) uses a whole-tone scale. According to pianist Marguerite Long, Debussy criticized some interpreters as being too colorful: “It is not a photograph of the beach…”

8. La fille aux cheveux de lin (The Girl with the Flaxen Hair). An impressionist painting, it is one of Debussy’s most popular piano pieces. The theme is based on a pentatonic scale.

3. Le vent dans la plaine (The Wind on the Plain). The piano imitates the swirling wind as a constant rapid ostinato, interrupted occasionally by violent gusts and short lulls.

9. La sérénade interrompue (The Interrupted Serenade) is initially evocative of a musician tuning his instrument. The serenade proper begins in Spanish style, but the sudden stops and changes in style suggest either that the musician is repeatedly interrupted or that he is indecisive about what he wishes to convey.

4. Les sons et les parfums tournent dans l’air du soir (Sounds and Fragrances Swirl in the Evening Air). A gentle, impressionistic piece, evoking a dreamy,

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10. La Cathédrale engloutie (The Sunken Cathedral) imitates various types of bells. It alludes to the legend of the sunken city of Ys where only the spires of the cathedral were visible above the waves of the Atlantic. This prelude so impressed the Dutch artist M.C. Escher, that he created a print of Chartres Cathedral half submerged in calm water with a sailboat gliding towards it. He sent it to Debussy as a gift.

11. La danse de Puck (Puck’s Dance) is a humorous piece that needs no explanation. 12. Minstrels has traces of music hall tunes and banjo strumming. Program notes by Joseph & Elizabeth Kahn wordprosmusic.com

THANK YOU TO OUR GENEROUS SPONSORS OF THE RISING STARS SERIES Anonymous Leigh and Michael Batterson Robert and Marianne Denes Otto Linet Julie and Keith Peterson Jan and Ed Sackley Three Rivers Friends of The Gilmore

UPCOMING RISING STARS RECITALS January 22, 2017 February 19, 2017 April 2, 2017 May 14, 2017

Roman Rabinovich Seong-Jin Cho Sara Daneshpour Llewellyn Sanchez-Werner, 2014 Gilmore Young Artist

UPCOMING PIANO MASTERS CONCERTS AT CHENERY AUDITORIUM

March 11, 2017

Sir András Schiff

2016 -2017 Rising Stars Series | 7

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