Sun. Nov. 21, 2021 2p.m.
Terrace Theater
Patrons are requested to silence cell phones and other electronic devices during performances.
The taking of photographs and the use of recording equipment are not allowed in this venue.
This performance is an external rental presented in coordination with the Kennedy Center Campus Rentals Office and is not produced by the Kennedy Center.
Program
- Bach
- French Suite No. 4 in E-flat Major, BWV 815
- Allemande
- Courante
- Sarabande
- Gavotte
- Air
- Menuet
- Gigue
- Ravel
- Miroirs
- Noctuelles
- Oiseaux tristes
- Une barque sur l’océan
- Alborada del gracioso
- La vallée des cloches
Intermission
- Scriabin
- Sonata No. 2 in G-sharp minor (Sonata-Fantasy), Op. 19
- Andante
- Presto
- Prokofiev
- Sonata No. 2 in D minor, Op. 14
- Allegro, ma non troppo
- Scherzo: Allegro marcato
- Andante
- Vivace
Meet the Artists
Program Notes
French Suite No. 4, J.S. Bach (1685-1750)
The French Suite is comprised with a series of dances that complement and contrast each other with various tempi, rhythm, and character. This French Suite, in particular, is wholly warm, joyous, and uplifting. Ornaments (decorative notes around the basic melody) can be prepared or improvised by the performer and make the performance unique to that moment and person.
Miroirs, Maurice Ravel (1875-1937)
Ravel was a founder and core member of an artistic circle of musicians, visual artists and writers called “Les Apaches,” (slang for “hooligans,” as their art tended to rouse those with more conservative tastes). They met weekly to share new compositions, ideas and create together. Miroirs was born as a suite of five pieces that each reflected a different member in this circle and are dedicated to them accordingly.
Sonata No. 2, Alexander Scriabin (1872-1915)
Scriabin himself included the following program note for this sonata:
“The second sonata reflects the calm of a night by the seashore in the South. The development section is the dark agitation of the deep, deep ocean. The E Major middle section shows caressing moonlight coming after the first darkness of night. The second movement, presto, represents the vast expanse of ocean stormily agitated.”
The sea is also an ancient symbol for the psyche - the sonata may stir up much more in the listener than ocean imagery.
Sonata No. 2, Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953)
Though Prokofiev was still a student at the St. Petersburg Conservatory when he composed this sonata, his work was already being received with approval, even by critics. A review in the New York Times stated that “his fingers are steel, his wrists steel, his biceps and triceps steel,” and this is certainly what it feels like to play this piece. The first movement shoots off like a canon only to be foiled by a lyrical, dreamy second subject. The second movement is a Scherzo that sounds like a barbaric dance and features Prokofiev’s signature sarcastic, dark humour. The third movement is a dark lament of desperation, perhaps it relates most to the sonata’s dedicatee: Prokofiev’s classmate who passed by suicide. The last movement is an unrelenting rhythmic beast with Prokofiev’s clownish humour on full display. The four movements are held together by a valse triste theme in the first movement that returns just for a moment in the last movement.
Notes by Vivian Chen
Terms and Conditions
All events and artists subject to change without prior notice.
Staff
Event Staff
Officers
Director Grace McFarlane
WIC 2021 Piano Competition Co-Chairs Grace McFarlane & Junko Takahashi
WIC 2022 String Competition Chair John Kaboff
WIC 2022 Composition Competition Chair Mark Simon
Johansen International Competition Chair Michael Casassa
Treasurer Charlotte Saslowsky
Secretary Ruth Doherty
FMMC President Leslie Luxemburg
Trustees
Frank B. Conlon, Lydia Frumkin, Marta Howard, Lois Smith Jones, Eunju Kwak, Connie Milner, Janice Rosen, Carol Sikkelee, Chen-Li Tzeng
Staff
Administrative Director for the Johansen International Competition Harriet Kaplan
Managing Director of the Friday Morning Music Club Jennie Weyman
Thank You Supporters
Special Thanks:
To Steinway Piano Gallery, Washington DC, for their generous offer to use their facilities to host the judges for the semifinals and finals of this year’s virtual Washington International Competition.
To Ann Schein and The George L. Shields Foundation, for donating the First Place Award for this year’s WIC.
To Jennie Weyman, Managing Director of the FMMC, whose creativity, technical assistance, management skills and always cheerful demeanor and cooperative spirit made this event run smoothly and successfully.