Album insights
In life, uncertainty is the only constant. While death and taxes are said to be certain, modern attitudes towards our inevitable demise play a part in making the former a challenging subject for performance, at least in the Western world. Early modern texts like Ars moriendi ("The Art of Dying") once provided guidance on achieving a "good" death, a popular topic given the precarious existence of the Middle Ages. Despite advancements in life expectancy in the 21st century, the elixir of immortality remains out of reach. Our numbered breaths inspire an unceasing quest for meaning.
Stephen Hough's Piano Sonata No. 4 "Vida breve" (Short Life) is centered on the brevity of our earthly time, lending the album its name. Commissioned by the Gilmore International Keyboard Festival in Michigan for the 2016 Gilmore Young Artist Award winner, Micah McLaurin, the sonata premiered in November 2018 at Spivey Hall in Atlanta. This music, as expected from its title, carries a melancholic, perhaps introspective tone. The piece commences with a simple melody in the upper octave, evolving into a compact single movement. The fugato development introduces light contrapuntal elements, growing in complexity as the main theme gradually descends before rising back to the high register at the end. Hough has occasionally performed the piece reading from the music scores, making it the only one he doesn't play by heart, aiming to honor the composer's nuanced instructions.
Hough is not the sole artist navigating the dual roles of pianist and composer. Liszt, Busoni, and Chopin, all original bearers of this role, are featured in this album. Commencing with Busoni's transcription of Bach's Chaconne from Partita No. 2 in D minor, the piece now holds a cult status. Busoni's monumental version, with its densely structured musical lines, shifts perceptions towards an organ-like work rather than a violin piece. While his arrangement was met with mixed reviews due to its expanded scope, Hough masterfully highlights the bell-like quality of the recurring chord motif alongside the tender aspects in its contrasting variations.
A subtitle like "Vida breve" adds an intriguing layer. In contrast, Chopin opted not to name his Piano Sonata No. 2 in B-flat minor, although the "Funeral March" title—referencing the third movement created two years before the rest of the sonata and often performed independently—has persisted. Chopin even requested the removal of the term "funeral" in later editions, yet the epithet endured. Despite the famed mournful theme, the outer movements are laced with bright, romantic interludes. Chopin's disapproval perhaps stems from the stark contrast, but the piece continues to be a common choice for funerals, including Chopin's own.
The remarkable diversity among the four movements is evident from the onset. While Hough and Chopin's sonatas begin delicately, Liszt's "Funérailles" plunges right into a somber, contemplative atmosphere. Featuring tolling bells throughout and interrupted briefly by an elegy, this piece is part of the "Harmonies poétiques et religieuses" cycle inspired by Lamartine's poetry and follows Chopin's "Funeral Sonata." Liszt's spiritual depth and fascination with death and hell are recurrent themes in his compositions, often described as "demonic" in their impact.
The Bagatelle sans tonalité by Liszt, despite its title, maintains tonality but exudes a sense of ambiguous keys due to its extensive chromaticism. Highly experimental for its time, the piece showcases Liszt's avant-garde craftsmanship in creating eerie acciaccaturas and frenzied trioles juxtaposed against a simple triple-meter bass line. Grouped alongside Liszt's Mephisto Waltzes, the bagatelle, considered by Liszt as a "Fourth Mephisto Waltz," differs significantly from the piece now recognized as Mephisto Waltz No. 4. Liszt's enduring fascination with Faustian themes and contemplations of death are evident in this work that invokes spiritual and dark elements.
Busoni, a staunch advocate of transcriptions, displays his admiration for Bizet's opera in the Chamber Fantasy on Carmen, a masterful reworking of the opera's themes. Forming the basis for his sixth Sonatina, completed in 1920, the Chamber Fantasy incorporates motifs from the opera's Chorus of the Street Boys, the Flower Song, the "Habanera" in minor and major keys, and the Prelude to Act I. Busoni's characteristic style emerges, beginning with a sparkling melody that swiftly transforms through various treatments on the keyboard, culminating in a complex version of the renowned "Habanera."
Designed as a concert program, this album is best experienced consecutively from start to finish. The final two pieces, both arrangements by Hough, serve as delightful encores. The first, "Arirang," a traditional Korean folk song, symbolizing the country's musical heritage, features a gentle, contemplative melody traversing the keys delicately. This leads seamlessly into the second arrangement, a reimagined version of Gounod's "Ave Maria," officially known as "Méditation sur le premier prélude de piano de J.S. Bach." Evocative and peaceful, this piece offers a serene space for reflection and prayer, embodying life's fleeting nature and the everlasting silence.
Claire Jackson © 2021
Translator: Viola Scheffel