Album insights
"I am a part of everything that I have encountered."
This line from Alfred, Lord Tennyson's poem Ulysses succinctly captures the relationship of the performer and composer unified within the artistic landscape surrounding them. There exists a complex network of interactions between composers such as Chopin, Mendelssohn, Schumann, Liszt, Brahms, and others, where mutual assimilation and homage are evident. Through their respective piano works, Medtner and Rachmaninoff share recognizable melodic contours, motivic rhythms, and pianistic structures, reflecting an unconscious exchange of musical elements. Pianist-composers routinely draw from musical traditions past through quotations, leaving behind a musical legacy like an engraved name on the wall of a cathedral, declaring, "I, a musical traveler, was here and have left my contribution for you, those who come after me."
Marc-André Hamelin identifies himself as a pianist who also composes, upholding a noble tradition with excellence in both realms. Rather than emphasizing extensive practice in interviews about his legendary pianistic skills, Hamelin highlights the significance of having a "good ear for music," attributing much of his superhuman agility to a refined intellectual and instinctive understanding of harmonic structures and their corresponding forms. His ability to merge jazz and classical influences, as showcased in his transcription blending Brazilian composer Zequinha de Abreu's Tico-Tico no fubá with Chopin's chromatic a-Minor Étude, demonstrates a joyful union of seemingly distant musical strands. Hamelin's innovative spirit allows him to traverse a polyphonic labyrinth akin to Godowsky's interpretations of Chopin's Etudes, mastering not just the piano technique but also the compositional complexities therein.
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