Two of my favorite things

04 May 2009 3 Comments

by megan in Cinema, Music Tags: , , , , , , , ,

I am totally in love with this video.  It has two of my favorite things: the piano and old people.  It seems this lovely couple, Fran and Mario Cowan, who have been married for sixty-two years, decided to put on an impromptu recital in the atrium of the Mayo Clinic last year.

I adore their showmanship, as well as the fact that they are obviously having fun playing.  I also love watching Mr. Cowan bounce up and down whilst playing.  I can’t help but come away smiling.

I hope I have those two things when I am nearing ninety: an ongoing love of music and a partner with whom I can still have fun after sixty-two years.

Petite Suite

10 Dec 2008 2 Comments

by megan in Music Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

On September 21, I shared a recital with a colleague, performing works for piano solo and piano duet by Robert Schumann and Claude Debussy.  Overall, I’m fairly pleased with the result, considering that the recital was planned relatively last-minute.  I just got the final recording, and thought I’d post some pieces I performed that I feel weren’t too shabby.  The recording was live, so everything was captured, including shuffling, coughing, and my own unfortunate flubs.  Do try to ignore those.

* * * * * * * * * *

Claude Debussy (1862-1918 ) composed the Petite Suite in 1888, when he was only 26 years old.  Originally written for piano duet, it was later transcribed for orchestra, and there are also arrangements for organ and wind band.  The four movements are filled with rich harmonies and intricate rhythms.  The interplay between primo and secondo is graceful and exudes spontaneity, romance and brilliance.

This performance was interesting for me; in the past, I had always performed secondo.  This was my first experience playing primo.

 

En bateau (In a boat)
The rocking meter of this piece creates the impression of swaying to and fro while sitting in a boat on a sunny day.  The primo‘s gently lilting melody is enhanced by the harp-like quality of the secondo, painting an image of water passing seamlessly beneath the boat.
(3:29)

 

Cortège
This delicate procession is bright and coquettish, as if the members of the procession are tiny figurines from an ornate clock, which can be heard ringing throughout the piece.
(2:50)

 

Menuet
This elegant menuet is the only movement that bears any resemblance to the Baroque keyboard suite.  Its fragile, somehow melancholy theme calls to mind a tender dance of figures atop a music box, or in a royal court.
(2:37)

 

Ballet
The brilliant conclusion to this suite is the most thickly scored of all the movements, with the melody doubled between primo and secondo.  After a grand opening with a strong rhythmic theme, a new section begins with a slightly Spanish waltz, which returns for the finale.
(3:11)

Norman Dello Joio – Five Images

13 Aug 2008 1 Comment

by megan in Cinema, Music Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

In 2005, I had the joy of performing Norman Dello Joio’s Five Images, with a fellow teacher, Victoria Muñiz.  Completed in 1966, Five Images is the second set of four-hand pieces written for his children, and is more demanding than the first, Family Album (1962) and reflects their musical development over a four-year period.  Each movement offers something special to the performer and audience.  The premiere of Five Images took place in the composer’s living room.

I. Cortège
The opening Cortège is reminiscent of an approaching procession of royalty, growing larger and more intense by means of dynamics, rhythm and texture over the course of the piece.

II. Promenade
With a clearly defined melody and more traditional harmonies, Promenade is reminiscent of the Viennese landler of the nineteenth century.
  

III. Day Dreams
With hypnotic rhythms and unexpected harmonies, Day Dreams is a rocking berceuse.  This piece can also be found in a piano solo version as Lullaby in Dello Joio’s Suite for the Young (1964).
  

IV. The Ballerina
The Ballerina conjures an image of a tiny ballerina twirling on a music box who suddenly comes to life when no one is looking, dances around the room and then returns to her music box when she hears approaching footsteps.

V. The Dancing Sergeant
More toys come to life in The Dancing Sergeant, whose playful, militant rhythms and harmonies suggest a tin soldier who has mockingly deviated from formation.