ABOUT THE MUSIC

Trygve Madsen

3 Preludes, Op. 101

1) No. 19 in Db major

2) No. 17 in G major 

3) No. 23 in Bb major

Trygve Madsen is a Norwegian composer, born in 1940. He is a pianist-composer and his work spans a large variety of genres including chamber music, musicals, opera, Norwegian song, and symphonic music. While his musical education was firmly in the classical tradition, he taught himself jazz by listening to recordings and has continued to maintain jazz piano as a hobby throughout his career.

The Opus 101 set of 24 Preludes and Fugues was composed between 1995 and 1996 and demonstrates influence from Madsen’s musical idols including Prokofiev, Ravel, Mozart, and Haydn. Hower the strongest influences heard in this music is Madsen’s love of jazz and the Preludes and Fugues of Bach and Shostakovich.

Madsen leaves a large deal of the performance elements up to the pianist. There are no dynamic or articulation markings, and none of the movements feature any indication of what speed to perform them.

The three preludes played in today’s concert all have ties to Latin-jazz with their irregular rhythmic groupings of quavers into groups of 3 and 2, creating a highly syncopated feel. The first prelude (no. 19) groups the quavers in patterns of 3-2-2, the second (no. 17) in the rhythm of a habanera 3-3-2, and the final prelude (no. 23) in patterns of 3-3-2-2.

10 points if you can count the beat patterns and tap your foot along with the music!

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George Gershwin (arr. Earl Wild)
4 Virtuoso Etudes on Gershwin Songs
1) The Man I Love
2) Fascinatin' Rhythm
3) Embracable You
4) I Got Rhythm

In 1932 the renowned Tin Pan Alley songwriter, George Gershwin, published 18 rather challenging piano arrangements of his own most well-known songs. Gershwin had once commented that “most piano arrangements of songs are simplified arrangements for mass market purchase by people with limited technical skills.” With his new collection of arrangements, he hoped to prolong the popularity of the songs while also creating versions for his own enjoyment and considerable technical skill-level. Many of the arrangements were exactly how Gershwin himself would often perform these favourites at parties. However, as difficult as these arrangements are, they pale in comparison to the demands placed on the pianist in Earl Wild’s arrangements of these well-known tunes.

The American pianist and composer, Earl Wild (1915-2010) has been described as a “super-virtuoso in the Horowitz class.” In his obituary, the New York Times said of Wild: “he could seem a flamboyant presence on the concert stage. But although he reveled in bravura works…his performances consistently combined a deeply considered interpretive approach and an ironclad technique. Even into his 90s, his performances projected both power and musicality.” He also brought these qualities to his compositions. This is especially evident in the dazzling concert etudes on Gershwin songs, which Earl Wild describes as “not mere showpieces, but musical fantasias in the tradition of Franz Liszt.”

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Three Bird Songs
1) Jos voisin laulaa kuin lintu voi (arr. Merikanto)
2) Iso lintu merikotka (arr. Merikanto)
3) Blackbird (Lennon/McCartney, arr. Herd) 

Finnish composer, pianist, organist, and music critic Oskar Merikanto was born in 1868. Among his numerous compositions are eight collections of Finnish folk songs, with beautifully arranged piano-accompaniments displaying Merikanto’s typical class and flair at the keyboard. Art song for classical voice was generally composed for singers with training or skill. Merikanto has many examples of this kind of composition, however the collections of folksongs are somewhat different. There is no separate line for the singer, instead the piano constantly plays the melody and the lyrics are simply written above the piano part. In lied or art song, the piano generally works as a complementary instrument, separate from the singer, and rarely plays the singer’s melody. The fact that Merikanto includes the melody in the piano accompaniment suggests that these arrangements are intended for untrained or amateur singers. One can imagine a family or group of friends gathering around the piano to join in singing through their favourite tunes. While the singers might not have needed any training, the pianist sure would have, as Merikanto’s piano arrangements are somewhat demanding.

John Lennon and Paul McCartney wrote Blackbird in 1968. This was the same year that Martin Luther King Jr was assassinated in Memphis, bringing the US civil-rights movement to a head. Lennon and McCartney responded to the inequality and suffering that people of colour in the US were experiencing, and for musical inspiration they used an idea that Paul and his mates had played on the guitar as kids. The song grew out of a small section of Bach’s lute piece Bourrée in E minor.

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Nikolai Kapustin
3 Concert Etudes
1) No. 6 - Pastoral
2) No. 7 - Intermezzo
3) No. 3 - Toccatina 

 Nikolai Kapustin was born November 22, 1937, Horlivka, Ukraine. His pianistic training was quite traditional, studying at the St Petersburg and the Moscow Conservatories. He studied under the great Russian piano teachers of the period (Rubakh and Goldenwiser) and devoured the virtuosic music of the Liszt, Rachmaninoff and Scriabin. Kapustin’s time at the Moscow Conservatory coincided with the death of Stalin (1953), a period which saw jazz music in Russia transition from a prohibited musical genre, to music which could be heard on the radio. Radio jazz on the program “Voice of America” was Kapustin’s first introduction to the genre: “As soon as I first heard it, I started playing jazz. I understood it was something for me. I understood that I had to combine the two styles… I never tried to be a real jazz pianist but I had to do it because of the composing.”

This merging of classical and jazz elements came to dominate all of Kapustin’s compositional work.  The Eight Concert Etudes, Op. 40, are a fitting example of his mature compositional approach in marrying these two genres together. Composed in 1984, they follow in the tradition of Liszt and Rachmaninoff, while paying homage to the pianistic stylings of Oscar Peterson and Art Tatum. The etudes tackle several different technical aspects all at once and demand a wide variety of virtuosic techniques including rapid arpeggios, repeated notes, huge chordal textures, hand-crossing, and double thirds. Simultaneously, they challenge the pianist with a wide variety of jazz elements – quartal harmony, bebop phrasing, swing rhythms, stride accompaniment, jazz modes, pentatonic blues and whole-tone scales, as well as heavy and frequent syncopation.

Program Note © Adam Herd

ABOUT THE ARTIST

From sub-tropical New South Wales to sub-zero Scandinavian winters, Adam Herd has let music guide him to many corners of the globe. Originally from Coffs Harbour, Australia, Adam has travelled to South America, Great Britain, and Europe perfecting his pianism and piano repertoire.

 Adam holds a Bachelor of Music with First-Class Honours from the Queensland Conservatorium and a Master’s Degree from the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, Finland. His main teachers have been Natasha Vlassenko and Erik T. Tawaststjerna. Adam is currently undertaking doctoral studies in the artistic doctoral program at the Sibelius Academy and is supported by a Martin Bequest Travelling Scholarship and the Ian Potter Cultural Foundation. He has won various prizes and competitions including the Lev Vlassenko Piano Competition in Australia and the Helmi Vesa Piano Competition Finland. Adam’s debut solo CD From Shadows received great praise upon release with Fine Music Magazine awarding the recording five stars.

Alongside his concert engagements, Adam enjoys the multifaceted working-life of a modern musician. He currently works as a piano lecturer at two of Finland’s premier music institutes. Any spare moments that aren’t taken up with cross-country skiing or dog-parenting duties, Adam can be found arranging and composing music or working on the next idea for his forest-piano YouTube series. 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF SUPPORT

Brisbane Music Festival is supported by the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland.

Brisbane Music Festival is assisted by the Australian Government through Creative Australia, its arts funding and advisory body.

Brisbane Music Festival receives funds from Creative Partnership Australia through the Australian Cultural Fund.
With thanks to the many generous individuals that have support the 2023 Brisbane Music Festival.

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Special thanks to Michele Raineri and Lynne Cannell for incredible volunteer work.