FRANCESCO LIBETTA “VISIONARY MASTERWORKS”
MARCH 16, 2009

MIROIRS      Maurice Ravel (1835-1937)

Maurice Ravel composed his collection of piano pieces Miroirs (Mirrors) in 1904-05. Ricardo Viñes gave the first performance of the set in January 1906. Each of the five movements is dedicated to one of Ravel's friends. Miroirs marked Ravel’s entry into unexplored areas of piano composition. He employs daring harmonies, freer key modulations and lengthy and complex development.  He creates sounds and effects that were at that time unimaginable. The pieces are descriptive and conjure up visual and auditory images but are not really “program music” that has a storyline. Noctuelles (Night Moths) is dedicated to the writer Leon-Paul Farge who described moths that” leave their hangers in irregular flight, to ornament other rafters”. The piece   opens with a light chromatic fluttering evocation of the moths then shifts to a more chordal and structured section with pedal point before returning to the introductory lightness. Oiseaux tristes (Sad Birds) was dedicated to the pianist Ricardo Vines who gave the first performance. A single bird sings against subtle, complex background sounds. A more tumultuous section is followed by a slow and serious cadenza that brings us back to the sadness and loneliness of the beginning. Une Barque Sur l’Ocean  (a Boat on the Ocean) , dedicated to the painter Paul Sordes, presents a tranquil scene of a boat on the water which slowly transforms into an evocation of the  power of winds and waves. There are daring arpeggios, tremolos and other pianistic devices that turn the instrument  into a mighty force of nature. After a huge climax the opening mood gradually returns. Alborada del gracioso (The Jester’s Morning Song) , dedicated to the writer M.D. Calvocoressi ,who provided texts for some of Ravel’s songs, is perhaps the most popular of the “Miroirs”. Ravel orchestrated it in 1912. It is frequently performed alone and is a favorite for piano competition entrants who want to display their virtuosity and sensitivity. It is infused with Spanish rhythms and occasional sounds of guitars. The work is marked by wide dynamic contrasts and beautiful evocative melodies. La vallée des cloches (The Valley of the Bells), dedicated to Ravel’s first student Maurice Delage, creates a sound stage of several types of bells resounding and mixing throughout a valley. The   gorgeous melodies of the bells float in a sea of shifting and lush harmonies. Dedicated to Ravel’s first student Maurice Delage, it is believed to have been inspired by church bells.

ALLEGRO BARBARO Op. 35  No. 5   Charles-Valentin Alkan (1813-1888)
In his time Charles-Valentin Alkan was highly regarded as a composer and pianist. Possibly due to his eccentric, anti-social personality and the technical difficulty of much of his piano music he became a virtual footnote until his rediscovery in the late twentieth century. He is now widely celebrated as a composer of unique and visionary gifts who like Maurice Ravel found new sonic worlds in the piano. The Allegro Barbaro is the fifth of Douze Études dans tous les tons majeurs, Opus 35, twelve studies in all major keys published in 1847. The major keys are placed in order of ascending fourths, making transition from one to the other harmonically satisfactory. There is little hint in the first study in A major of the great technical demands to come. The Allegro Barbaro creates stunning effects while using only the white keys.

FANTIASIESTUCKE Op. 12        Robert Schumann (1818-1850)

The Fantasiestucke ( Fantasy Pieces), composed in 1837, consists of eight highly personal pieces designed to be performed as one. They constitute one of the composer's finest and most representative works.  Schumann consciously displays the wildly contrasting sides to his personality: Eusebius, the philosopher / dreamer and Florestan the  man of passion and action. Accordingly the mood of the work undergoes stunning and unexpected changes.

1.  Des Abends (The Evenings) in D-flat major / Sehr innig zu spielen (Play very intimately)

2. Aufshwung (Soaring) in F minor Sehr rasch (rapidly)

3. Warum? (Why?) in D-flat major / Langsam und zart (Slowly and tenderly)

4. Grillen (Whims) in D-flat major / Mit Humor (With humor)

5. In der Nacht (In the Night) in F minor / Mit Leidenschaft (With passion)

6. Fable (Fable) in C major / Langsam (Slowly)

7. Traumes Wirren (Dream Visions; lit. Dream's Confusion i.e. Tangled Dream) in F major / Äußerst lebhaft (Extremely vivace)

8. Ende vom Lied (End Of The Song) in F major / Mit gutem Humor (With good humor)

BAGATELLE SANS TONALITE     Franz Liszt (1811-1886)

The Bagatelle Sans Tonalite (Bagatelle Without Tonality) presents Franz Liszt as an adventurous composer exploring the outer limits of musical composition. There is so much chromaticism (use of notes not in the scale for color) in this waltz that the sense of key virtually vanishes. This piece anticipates the work of Arnold Schoenberg and others in the twentieth century. It was premiered in 1885 but not published until 1955.

TRANSCENDENTAL ETUDE IV D MINOR :MAZEPPA   Franz Liszt (1811-1886)

Mazeppa if the fourth of the Transcendental Etudes based upon the dramatic and macabre poem of the same name by Victor Hugo (1802-1885). Mazeppa, a Ukrainian page, is tied to a horse which is allowed to gallop away. Both Mazeppa and the horse suffer serious injury. Amazingly the protagonist ends up as a king. Liszt uses his penultimate technical arsenal to depict the wild ride and its consequences. The horse gallops furiously until it tires but then gets a second wind going faster than ever, a feat that demands the utmost in stamina and bravura from the performer. A brief regal theme completes the saga.

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