PORTLAND PIANO VIRTUAL EXTRAVAGANZA PROGRAM NOTES
Event No. 2: Sunday, August 16, 2020
FLEET FOXES / ANDERSON & ROE The Cascades (3 min)
World premiere performance and video featuring audience-submitted photos, footage, and artwork
Fleet Foxes, one of the 21st century’s premier indie rock bands, was formed in Seattle in 2006. The culture, environment, and sensibilities of the Pacific Northwest play an integral role in the band’s earthy, folk-inflected sound. When their acclaimed Grammy-nominated album Helplessness Blues—which includes “The Cascades”—was released in 2011, the band was based in Portland; per a Pitchfork interview from that year, lead singer/guitarist Robin Pecknold shared:
“Being in Portland is cool. I have some good friends here and the general feeling might be a little more welcoming [...] The song ‘The Cascades’ sounds like the area to me, hence the name. We put the Cascadian flag on the back of the album. But I'd say the whole West Coast is like the physical location that the music on the album was meant to evoke—Washington, Oregon, Northern California, etc.”
“The Cascades” is an instrumental-only track and a thing of enchanting beauty. We were captivated upon first listen: the song’s celestial interplay of strummed, finger-picked guitars gave us the feeling of soaring above the trees with the wind rushing upon our faces, and the subtle harmonic changes evoked the image of light and shadow dancing upon distant mountaintops. In our two-piano arrangement we aim to capture this sound and atmosphere through the use of running notes and extended techniques.
Our music video pays homage to the resurgence of birdwatching nationwide during the COVID-19 pandemic. For those of us with the privilege to adopt a slower pace of life in quarantine, sheltering in place has engendered opportunities for a heightened awareness of nature’s wonders. The mystical, aerial quality of Fleet Foxes’ song inspired us to center this music video on birds since they traditionally symbolize freedom and transformation. (And, of course, we must “put a bird on it” in honor of Portland!) Thanks to you, our bird-watching audience, we have received a delightful assortment of photos, videos, and artwork of the avian population in Portland and beyond. May our two-piano cover and accompanying video lift you to a more harmonious and hopeful state of being.
PHILIP GLASS Etude No. 2 (6 min)
RYAN ANTHONY FRANCIS Etude IV “Doppelgänger” (4 min)
FRANZ SCHUBERT / FRANZ LISZT “Aufenthalt” from Schwanengesang, D. 957 (3 min)
Solo works for piano performed live by Elizabeth Joy Roe
Musical études are technically “studies.” However, composers throughout history, from Frédéric Chopin to György Ligeti, have transformed what could be viewed as merely exercises to an elevated and exhilarating artform. The two études programmed here surely surpass this formal definition; they are more akin to musical meditations that invite a fullness of attention and intention from both performer and listener. This solo set culminates in a haunting selection by Franz Schubert, whose music has struck a resonant chord with both of these present-day composers: Glass named Schubert as his favorite composer (which is understandable in light of their shared metaphysical bent), and Francis’s étude was directly influenced by Schubert’s immortal voice.
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Still as productive as ever today at age 83, Philip Glass (b. 1937) has achieved close to guru status in contemporary culture; his creative output comprises multiple operas, symphonies, concertos, string quartets, piano works, compositions for his own ensemble, piano works, soundtracks for films as varied as Koyaanisqatsi and The Hours, and collaborations with artists like Paul Simon, Linda Ronstadt, Yo-Yo Ma, and Aphex Twin. Glass composed the bulk of his piano Etudes in 1994, completing his collection of twenty in 2012. The composer Nico Muhly has described these etudes as “little diagrams of where his head is at the time.”
The Etude No. 2 is quintessentially Glass: minimalist, hypnotic, ever unfolding. As serene as a lullaby and as transporting as a mantra, it feels as if it has already begun before the first note is sounded and that it could continue for infinity. Every encounter with his music reminds me of this koan-like musing of his:
“Openings and closings, beginnings and endings. Everything in between passes as quickly as the blink of an eye. An eternity precedes the opening and another, if not the same, follows the closing. Somehow everything that lies in between seems for a moment more vivid. What is real to us becomes forgotten, and what we don’t understand will be forgotten too.”
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Composer Ryan Anthony Francis (b. 1981) is a Portland native and resident; he was a classmate of ours at The Juilliard School, and I performed his sprawling, transfixing Consolations at my Lincoln Center recital debut in 2007. His Etude No. IV “Doppelgänger” is permeated by pathos, spellbinding soundscapes, and textural layering. There is an intriguing, indefinable quality to Ryan’s aesthetic: the omnipresent melancholy in this work (and others in his oeuvre) recalls the emotional depths of mythic Romantic figures like Goethe’s Werther and Senancour’s Obermann, while the compositional style is rooted in 21st -century postmodern idioms.
Here are Ryan’s notes on his Etude:
Doppelgänger is from a set of six etudes I wrote back in 2007. Most of the pianistic writing from that set was very influenced by MIDI sequencing, something I did to get out of my own pianistic habits, where I would write material without any consideration to whether it was physically feasible for the piano, and then I would take the MIDI sequences I would write (think like a digital player piano roll) and then I would translate the MIDI data into traditional notation via software. I'd then go into a process of refining the material into something that was pianistic, but that I wouldn't have written if I just sat down at the keyboard.
With all that being said, that's not really how I wrote Doppelgänger! I used that etude as something of a stylistic/creative break from all of the MIDI sequencing to write an entirely different sort of etude, one that rather than avoiding familiar pianistic tropes, would instead lean into them. So the etude begins with a series of descending thirds that suggest one sort of (relatively) modern approach, maybe evoking the Debussy or Ligeti etudes, and more or less that akin to the rest of the etudes in the set. However, as the piece progresses a restrained Schubertian texture gradually takes control of the piece. I've always been enamored with the sort of dramatic rhetoric of Schubert's piano writing, because while he's often characterized as a sort of transitional figure towards romanticism, the rather blunt/boxy conception of pianistic resonance in his works clearly shows the fortepiano influence over his textures, leading to this weird mismatch between the pathos of his music how the technical limitations of the time shaped his conception of their expression.
Ryan dedicated Doppelgänger to me back in 2007, and I proudly perform it today in honor of one of our generation’s visionary voices.
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As Ryan revealed, the music of Franz Schubert (1797-1828) served as a spiritual predecessor of sorts to Doppelgänger, specifically the eerie song bearing the same title from his final song cycle Schwanengesang (“Swan Song,” a title granted by his publisher). Today’s program features another song from this cycle, “Aufenthalt” (“Resting Place”); Schubert’s original lied features the following text by Ludwig Rellstab:
Surging river, roaring forest,
immovable rock, my resting place.
As wave follows wave,
so my tears flow, ever renewed.
As the high treetops stir and heave,
so my heart beats incessantly.
Like the rock’s age-old ore
my sorrow remains forever the same.
In the wake of rejection and heartbreak, this so-called resting place is one of bitterness. Throughout this solo piano transcription by Franz Liszt (1811-1886), both hands share the role of the suffering wanderer (represented by the yearning melody) as well as the turbulent forces of nature (embodied by the urgent, throbbing accompaniment).
JOHANNES BRAHMS Theme and Variations in D minor, Op. 18b (12 min)
Solo work for piano performed live by Greg Anderson
As a nod to our original March recital programs in which we planned to perform seminal duo piano works by Johannes Brahms (1833-1897), we have chosen to feature two of his compositions on today’s event; he is one of our favorite composers of all time, in part due to the grandeur and gravitas of his compositions.
Brahms’ Theme and Variations, Op. 18b is a faithful arrangement of the second movement of his String Sextet No. 1 in B-flat major. He was often inclined to create multiple versions of his compositions, usually to experiment with instrumentation. In this case, Brahms simply translated most of the piece note for note; since the original instrumentation features wide harmonic spacings, the piano arrangement features numerous tenths (pages of them, in fact!), elevenths, and rolled chords. Surely this transcription is not for the faint of heart, which makes sense since Clara Schumann—formidable pianist, woman, and Brahms’ muse—was the compelling impetus for this transcription; it was created for the occasion of her 41st birthday on September 13, 1860.
The work could be considered an heir of sorts to Bach’s great Chaconne: they share the same key, a similar usage of harmony, dotted rhythms in the main melody, a minor-major-minor structure, and an epic vision. (Whether or not there exists any conscious link between the two works, Brahms was arguably the Romantic Era’s bearer of Bach’s aesthetic lineage.)
One of the most fascinating aspects of this piece is its overall structural trajectory; the grandest part occurs at the beginning, and then the piece gradually recedes, as if to retreat inward. The work commences with a stately and powerful theme, then progresses in traditional variation form with the first three variations increasing in speed. Variations 4 & 5 are both in D major; the fourth variation is reminiscent of the slow movement from his first piano concerto and the fifth evokes a music box. The sixth and final variation returns to minor, marking a resigned return home. Almost identical to the opening theme but performed pianissimo, the theme’s majesty is replaced by a newfound, saddened awareness, to devastating effect.
JOHANNES BRAHMS “Scherzo” from Sonata for Two Pianos in F minor, Op. 34b (7 min)
Music video premiere
The Sonata for Two Pianos, Op. 34b is best known in its iteration as the legendary F minor Piano Quintet. Notoriously a perfectionist, Brahms made multiple versions of this composition (as in the preceding work on today’s program): it began as a string quintet in 1862, then was destroyed and transformed into this two-piano sonata (performed by Brahms and virtuoso pianist Karl Tausig) before attaining its final version as a piano quintet. Brahms’ Piano Quintet is universally considered a masterpiece and “often called the crown of his chamber music” (according to Jan Swafford’s biography).
We are passionate about the two-piano version because the piano duo dynamic underscores the striking duality of the piece: not only are the two pianos dueling, but a variety of opposing forces are at work throughout this epic sonata: the tensions between major and minor, hope and despair, light and darkness, good and evil. The Scherzo movement (featured today) stands out as demonic in character and execution; it is one of those adrenaline rushes that tests the technical control and pacing of the pianists. We like to say that this is the movement where Brahms turns the intensity level up to an 11 (to quote Spinal Tap).
SCOTT JOPLIN / ANDERSON & ROE Maple Leaf Rag Fantasy (3 min)
World premiere three-piano music video featuring the winner of our youth competition for local pianists!
The “Maple Leaf Rag” by Scott Joplin (1868-1917) remains an irresistible American classic. We included this work to encourage the involvement of young Portland pianists, and we are excited to announce and feature our talented winner tonight!
Known as the “King of Ragtime,” Joplin grew up in a musical family of railway laborers in the South. He learned to play the piano during his childhood then worked as a traveling musician from his teen years onward; his musical pursuits brought him to the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893. In 1894, he put down roots in Missouri, teaching and composing in addition to his touring gigs. His first works, a couple of songs, were published the following year, and his first published rag, “Original Rags,” appeared in print in 1897 (the same year that the first ragtime work was published, William Krell’s “Mississippi Rag”). In 1899, the “Maple Leaf Rag” was published; it became a hit that earned him widespread fame. It would eventually become the bestselling ragtime song in history, selling more than a million copies.
The jaunty and infectious “Maple Leaf Rag” served as a highly influential model for composers during ragtime’s heyday at the turn of the century, and it is still considered the archetypal rag thanks to its rhythms, melodic lines, and harmonic progressions. According to Scott Rutkoff’s book, New York Modern: The Arts and the City, Joplin and ragtime are responsible for energizing, representing, and propelling American culture forward: "Its syncopation and rhythmic drive gave it a vitality and freshness attractive to young urban audiences indifferent to Victorian proprieties ... Joplin's ragtime expressed the intensity and energy of a modern urban America.”
Our three-piano fantasy preserves the original in notes and spirit, while injecting extra doses of playfulness and pizzazz via the improvisatory commentary of two extra pianos. Keeping the central piano part tied to the original presented an unusual challenge while reimagining this classic rag; we couldn’t make major harmonic alterations, so we found other ways to breathe new life into the work through spicy rhythms, new solos, and a variety of virtuosic licks (à la Art Tatum). Rather than describe the work in full, however, we’d rather save the surprises for today’s world premiere!
ERIK SATIE Selections from 1913 (10 min)
A selection of audience favorites performed LIVE by Anderson & Roe and a Portland-based cast of narrators
“To whom it may concern: I forbid anyone to read the text aloud during the performance. Ignorance of my instructions will bring my righteous indignation against the audacious culprit. No exceptions will be allowed.”
This (tongue-in-cheek!) proclamation was made by Erik Satie (1866-1925), one of classical music’s originals and an eccentric of the Parisian avant-garde. In 1913 he created multiple sets of surrealist, absurdist pieces for piano that incorporate elements of Dada (the pre-war “anti-art” movement dismissing conventional aesthetics). Satie’s 1913 collections possess such colorful titles as Croquis et agaceries d'un gros bonhomme en bois (“Sketches and exasperations of a big wooden fellow”), Embryons desséchés (“Dessicated Embryos”), and Peccadilles importunes (“Troubling little thoughts”). And that’s just a small sample—one of our favorite Satie titles is Trois Morceaux en forme de poire (“Three Pieces in the Form of a Pear”), piano-duet pieces he wrote in response to the establishment who criticized his compositions for their lack of form. (How clever ... and impudent!)
Satie utilized the practice of écriture automatique (“automatic writing”), a Dadaist technique that involves the subconscious writing of whatever thoughts and imaginings come to mind. (In fact, a trio of these 1913 pieces is called Descriptions automatiques.) Through such experiments, Satie endeavored to get away from the excesses of the fin-de-siècle Wagnerian style dominating art music. He consistently aimed for freedom of form, harmonic innovation, and simplicity. Although elements of parody, satire, and irony permeate these 1913 pieces, both the music and text reveal a charming, childlike sense of wonder. It is refreshing that he didn’t take himself too seriously! In this spirit we are thrilled to collaborate with Portland’s very own in a live performance of these witty and weird amuses-bouches.
MILY BALAKIREV / ANDERSON & ROE Untitled fantasy for undetermined number of pianists based on Balakirev’s Islamey (9 min)
Music video premiere
At the time of writing these program notes, we have not decided on a title for our composition; it will be your job to help us officially name the work immediately following its premiere on August 16!
Balakirev’s Islamey is notorious for being one of the most difficult pieces in the entire solo piano repertoire. Mily Balakirev (1837-1910), himself a virtuoso pianist, deemed his own composition “unplayable” and that he “couldn’t manage” various passages in the piece. The great pianist Anton Rubinstein, who premiered the piece in 1869, proclaimed that “few would be able to master it.” Even Maurice Ravel challenged himself to create a work “more difficult than Balakirev’s Islamey.” (The result? Gaspard de la nuit.) However, Balakirev was not merely interested in creating a pianistic Everest; he was primarily inspired by his ethnomusicological discoveries in the Caucausus region, located at the border between Europe and Asia and between the Black and Caspian Seas, in the 1860s. This region is known for its astonishing linguistic and cultural diversity. It was here that Balakirev came upon a melody that would eventually make its way into his “Oriental Fantasy.” As he wrote to his friend Eduard Reiss:
...the grandiose beauty of the luxuriant natural surroundings in that region and the commensurate beauty of its inhabitants, all of this taken together left a deep impression on me. As I was interested in the local folk music, I sought out the acquaintance of a Circassian prince, who frequently came to see me and played folk melodies on his instrument, which bore some resemblance to a violin. I took a special liking to one of those melodies, a dance tune called ‘Islamey,’ and with a view to the work I had in mind on [the symphonic poem] Tamara, I began to arrange it for the piano. The second theme was communicated to me in Moscow by an Armenian actor [K. N. de Lazari, a member of the Bolshoi Theatre] ...and is, as he assured me, well known among the Crimean Tatars.
In a flurry of inspiration (and contrary to his usual years-long compositional process), Balakirev wrote the work over the span of a single month in 1869. In 1902, he revised the work with several ossia passages.
Fast forward to 2020: we decided to tackle the challenge and honor Islamey’s ambitious pianism by taking on several piano parts each, over a dozen altogether! Rather than split the original into several easier piano parts, we added plenty of extra material in true Anderson & Roe style. (Seriously, each of these piano parts is a colossal challenge!)
At the crux of our over-the-top adaptation is the spirit of a piano battle: the composition (and accompanying music video) revolves around the competition between two teams, in this case Team Liz and Team Greg. Throughout, there are friendly and rollicking hootenannies with each of us jumping into the middle to show off our pianistic chops. The individual piano parts in combination are reminiscent of a kaleidoscope, with the original material being reflected and refracted upon itself by the multitude of pianists.
The first third of the work is performed slower than the solo version to bring out the dance-like lilt and highly complex rhythms. The middle section is an embellished, grandiose version of the original, ending with some killer scales. Finally, the last third proceeds at a demonic pace, performed faster than the original version could ever be played; it gains such momentum that the perceived pulse becomes more expansive and the music essentially become airborne, soaring to a bravura and triumphant conclusion.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
These virtual extravaganza events have been a true test of imagination, ambition, mettle, creativity, resourcefulness, endurance, technology, and teamwork. We offer our deepest gratitude:
first and foremost to Bill, Maryellen, Robin, Marc-André, and the entire Portland Piano International family for your willingness to walk the tightrope with us; your partnership has been extraordinary!
to Anca and Jon for your indispensable collaboration on the technical aspects of this multifaceted operation
to all the amazing participants in our interactive activities for making both events feel like a truly personalized and vibrant experience, representing the unique spirit of Portland in spades. Bravi, tutti!• to the one and only Fred Child for debriefing our activities with excellent questions and commentary
to our husbands for your incredible patience and moral support as we worked long days and nights since the beginning of June (and filled our piano rooms with all sorts of gear!) to achieve our vision for these special events
to everyone else in our lives who has given us support, assistance, encouragement, and empowerment throughout all the stages of this project: Jasmine, Emmy, our wonderful families and friends, and fans around the globe
Last but not least: we give our heartfelt appreciation to you, our viewers, for joining us in this brave new world of classical music presentation and engagement. Amid the challenges in society, connecting with you all gives us hope and inspiration. Thank you for celebrating the joys of community and music with us!
Peace + Love + Piano!
-Elizabeth Joy Roe & Greg Anderson