piano series
Boris Berman, artistic director
Jan Jiracek von Arnim
Wednesday, November 2, 2022 | 7:30 p.m. Morse Recital Hall in Sprague Memorial Hall
Robert Blocker, Dean
horowitz
Program
Ludwig van Beethoven 1770–1827
Sonata in B-flat major, Op. 22
I. Allegro con brio
II. Adagio con molta espressione
III. Minuetto
IV. Rondo. Allegretto
Beethoven
Beethoven
Franz Liszt 1810–1849
Liszt
Sonata in E-flat major, Op. 81a
I. Das Lebewohl. Adagio – Allegro
II. Die Abwesenheit. Andante espressivo
III. Das Wiedersehen. Vivacissimamente
intermission
Sonata in C-sharp minor, Op. 27, No. 2, “Moonlight”
I. Adagio sostenuto
II. Allegretto III. Presto agitato
Vallée d’Obermann (Obermann’s Valley) in E minor from Années de pèlerinage (Years of Pilgrimage), “Première année: Suisse” (“First Year: Switzerland”), S. 160
Ballade No. 2 in B minor, S. 171
As a courtesy to others, please silence all devices. Photography and recording of any kind is strictly prohibited. Please do not leave the hall during musical selections. Thank you.
Artist Profile
Jan Jiracek von Arnim, piano
Born into a family of musicians, pianist Jan Jiracek von Arnim was described by BBC Music Magazine as one of the leading pianists of his generation. A top prize winner at the Busoni Competition (Italy) and Maria Canals Competition (Spain), Jan Jiracek von Arnim was one of the winners of the Tenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition (USA). He regularly performs in musical centers such as the Musikverein Vienna, Philharmonie Berlin, Suntory Hall Tokyo, and others.
He was appointed professor for piano at the Vienna University of Music and Performing Arts in 2001, making him the youngest tenured professor in the history of that school. His students are prizewinners of major international piano competitions, e.g. in 2021 first prize winner at “Géza Anda” (Switzerland), 2020 first prize winner at “Unisa” (South Africa), 2019 first prize winner of the “Top of the World” (Norway) and Tucumán International Piano Competition (Argentina), 2018 first prize at the “Maria Canals Barcelona”, as well as “Dublin International” in Ireland, the “Gradus ad Parnassum” in Austria and “Neue Sterne” in Germany.
Jan Jiracek von Arnim is guest professor at the Elisabeth University of Music in Hiroshima (Japan) since 2022, and he gives master classes on a regular basis in North America, Asia and Europe, most recently for the PTNA Prizewinners and Junior Grade Talents at the Toho Gakuen College in Tokyo, Japan, the Wilhelm Kempff Foundation in Positano, Italy, as well as the
Chopin Festival in Duszniki and the Paderewski International Piano Concerto Academy in Bydgoszcz, Poland. Mr. Jiracek von Arnim is frequently invited as a judge at international piano competitions, e.g. the “Hamamatsu International Piano Competition” in Japan, the “Busoni International Piano Competition” in Italy, and the “Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition for young musicians”. Since 2011, he is the Artistic Director and Chairman of the “International Beethoven Piano Competition Vienna”, one of the most prestigious piano competitions in the world.
His biography on Franz Liszt (Residenz Verlag, Austria) has been described as “the very best Liszt biography” by the renowned newspaper DIE PRESSE, Austria.
Jan Jiracek von Arnim is a scholarship holder of prestigious foundations, such as the “Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes”. He was named “Paul Harris Fellow” of Rotary Foundation in 2020. He is also honorary citizen of Fredericksburg, Texas (USA). www.jiracek-von-arnim.com
Program Notes
Sonata in B flat major, Op. 22 beethoven
Patrick Campbell JankowskiA hallmark of Beethoven’s early period, this “Grand Sonata” is often forgotten, despite the composer having thought of it as one of his best up to that time. It lacks the nicknames given to some of his other sonatas, and the enigmatic allure of his late ones, but it makes up for it with bravura, playfulness, and -as its designation implies - grandiosity. The opening gesture is like an engine revving: a start-up that leads to an energetic first theme. The musical “building blocks” here and throughout much of the Sonata are simple: scales, arpeggios, and repetitive motoric figures. The songful second movement is sometimes compared to the Nocturnes of Chopin (we know which came first). A florid melody decorated with trills and sinuous half-steps floats atop a strumming accompaniment. A central section ventures into darker areas before the opening melody returns. A menuet and trio is included in this four-movement structure (the true meaning of “Grande Sonata,” and adding a quasi-symphonic heft to the piece). A rather busy accompaniment adds an interesting touch to the movement, and in the trio section, the left hand becomes especially assertive. As with the opening movement, the closing Rondo contains a number of flashy bravura passages, as well as a few surprises in the disruptive episodes in a variety of characters.
Sonata in E flat major, Op. 81a beethoven Patrick Campbell Jankowski
The fact that the titles given on publication to Beethoven’s Op. 81a sonata were in French is ironic. In 1809, Napoleon’s army invaded Vienna, forcing numerous political figures to flee. One of these was Archduke Rudolph, Prince Imperial of Austria, a pupil, patron, and close friend of Beethoven, and the dedicatee of a number of compositions, including this sonata. The three movements of this sonata allude to the departure, absence, and return of Rudolph and his family to the city of Vienna. To call the sonata programmatic is perhaps an overstatement. Beethoven does not seek to tell an explicit story in music, but rather alludes to his patron’s farewell in a more abstract fashion.
A motive of three chords introduces the first movement, written in the style of a pair of hunting horns. The second movement, subtitled “Absence,” is suitably lamenting and sparse. In the final movement, the coda contains an unmistakable recollection of the horn fifths that opened the entire sonata — a memory, or perhaps signifying the fear of another departure — yet rather than a melancholic guise, they are absorbed into the festive character of the last movement, and the sonata ends with a triumphant close.
Sonata in C sharp minor, Op. 27 Nr. 2 beethoven
Patrick Campbell JankowskiImmediately recognizable from its first hushed tones, it is easy to forget how strange the opening of this sonata actually is in context. Beethoven knew what he was doing: he thought of this sonata as something quite different, calling it “Sonata quasi una Fantasia,” or “sonata in the form of a fantasy.” Rather than the fast-slow-fast movement structure we typically encounter in a sonata, Beethoven instead creates something more like a gradual revelation. While composed of three distinct parts, they are played without pause, and instead of placing the “weight” of the piece at the beginning, he shifts it to the end. In the first movement, we might imagine an aria sung to the accompaniment of a lute or guitar in the evening air: the same sort of mood at the heart of a nocturne. We can’t ignore the ubiquitous “moonlight” connotations since ascribed to the work, although that nickname came years after the composer’s death.
Following this introduction, a fairly subdued scherzo and trio flashes by in the blink of an eye. Unhurried and with hardly any trace of agitation, this movement acts almost as a transition between the outer ones: a gradual increase of momentum from the lament of the opening into the stormy finale. With its rapid, rising arpeggios, unpredictable shifts in dynamic, and heavy hammer blows, this movement is among the most intense displays of emotion in all of Beethoven’s piano sonatas.
Vallée d’Obermann in E minor Liszt Patrick Campbell Jankowski“The monochord of the relentless solitude of human pain.” A heavy description for a novel, but it’s what Liszt said of the French writer’s Sénancour’s Oberman. In the same Romantic tradition as Goethe’s Wilhelm Meister (the inspiration at the heart of composer’s “Years of Pilgrimage”), it depicts the suffering, loneliness, and self-discovery of its protagonist, who acts as a sort of stand in for the artist. That suffering protagonist is depicted in the opening sigh of a descending scale, and we trace his wandering through an Alpine valley throughout the work: through turmoil, peace, and yet more turmoil.
Program Notes, cont.
Ballade No. 2 in B minor S. 171 liszt
Patrick Campbell JankowskiA study in shifting moods, Liszt’s Ballade in B minor marries this emotional meandering with a full menu of pianistic techniques and timbres. Liszt was a musical poet but also a showman, and his compositions always contain elements of theatricality and virtuosity, though in the service of his poetic goals. The ballade opens ominously, with a low rumble in the bass and slithering scales, but that’s only the beginning. Through a brighter lyrical section, a stormy passage depicting conflict, and ultimate resolution through the transfigured return of the lyrical theme from before, Liszt takes us through an evolving musical narrative of themes, with peaceful conclusion for which we can be grateful.
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Upcoming Events at YSM
nov 3 Aaron Jay Kernis & David Lang, faculty composers
New Music New Haven
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