Prominent US pianist Jeremy Denk headlines the opening concert of the PianoEspoo festival in Tapiola. Music by leading American 20th-century composers Elliott Carter and Aaron Copland encounters the music of J.S. Bach and W.A. Mozart. The result is a dazzling cross-section of music and keyboard playing created in different eras and on different continents.
Come and see how the orchestra works to prepare the evenings concert. The open final rehearsals begin at 10 am and end at 1 pm. You may also leave at the break. An introduction is given in the foyer of the Espoo Cultural Centre at 9.50 am. Admission free.
By PianoEspoo
J.S. Bach’s output contains 13 surviving concertos for one or more harpsichords (up to four). All of these are arrangements of his own earlier works. Harpsichord Concerto no. 2 in E major is one of six concertos in a collection dating from 1738 or 1739 that Bach clearly intended to form a coherent whole. The original work of which this is an arrangement is not known, but recent educated guesses point to the oboe or oboe d’amore as the original solo instrument, and it has been estimated that that original work dated from Bach’s time in Köthen (1717–1723).
Like all of Bach’s concertos, this follows the three-movement template developed by Vivaldi (fast–slow–fast). All movements are in da capo form (A–B–A), where the first section is followed by a contrasting middle section and then a repeat of the first. In the flanking movements, this merges into what is known as the ritornello form, a common device in concertos at this time that comprises alternation between solo and tutti in various ways. In the Harpsichord Concerto in E major, the ‘B’ sections are considerably more profound than the surrounding music, plunging into a minor key in the first movement, giving a plangent voice to the harpsichord solo in the undulating siciliano of the slow movement, and introducing chromatic twists and turns in the energetic finale.
Shortened from Kimmo Korhonen's work presentation
Translation: Jaakko Mäntyjärvi
Elliot Carter, who lived to the ripe old age of 103 and remained creative to the end, was a towering figure in American modernism in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
One of the most prominent works of Carter’s early maturity is the Double Concerto for harpsichord, piano and two chamber orchestras (1959–1961), which Stravinsky, among others, regarded as a masterpiece. The structure and musical material of the work are organised in a number of different ways, linking it to post-serialism.
The two solo instruments are each accompanied by their own chamber ensemble. They are spatially separated, and they differ in their musical material too. The harpsichord and its ensemble have certain favourite intervals (minor seconds, minor thirds, fourths, augmented fourths, minor sixths, minor sevenths and minor ninths) and rhythmic peculiarities which the piano and its ensemble avoid. Carter stressed that in addition to the differences in material, both groups have their own behavioural pattern.
The result is highly complex, tumultuous and edgy but also intense. The complexity of the idiom is balanced by the relatively straightforward symmetrical structure in seven sections: introduction, harpsichord cadenza, Allegro scherzando, slow middle section dominated by winds (Adagio), Presto section, piano cadenza (partly involving the ensembles and harpsichord) and a concluding coda.
Shortened from Kimmo Korhonen's work presentation
Translation: Jaakko Mäntyjärvi
Aaron Copland's Neo-Classical idiom has attracted numerous followers, so much so that it evolved into a mainstream school of American classical music in the 20th century. Copland also depicted various aspects of American culture in his work, both actual and mythical. A case in point is the celebrated ballet trilogy from his middle period – Billy the Kid (1938), Rodeo (1942) and Appalachian Spring (1944), of which the last one has establishing itself as one of the great classics of 20th-century American music.
As the title states, the work is set in the Appalachian Mountains in the eastern USA. The simple way of life of the people in this region is depicted via a young married couple. Copland quotes from an American folk tune, Simple Gifts, which originated in the breakaway Quaker sect known as the Shakers. There are also other references to American folk music in the score.
The Suite consists of eight movements but is played without a break. The opening movement introduces the characters, and this is followed by the pas de deux of the man and woman (3rd movement), the arrival of the minister and parishioners (4th movement) and the young woman’s solo (5th movement). The 7th movement is a set of variations on the Simple Gifts tune, illustrating the quiet life of the young couple. In the final movement, the couple finally find their place in the village community.
Shortened from Kimmo Korhonen's work presentation
Translation: Jaakko Mäntyjärvi
By PianoEspoo
