Domenico Scarlatti, Sonatas K1, K9, K11, K146

A seemingly inexhaustible source of ideas, Domenico Scarlatti wrote over 550 sonatas for the keyboard in binary form. Of these sonatas, only a fraction was published during his life-time, and those only after he was 50 years of age. Throughout these sonatas, his modern-sounding bold harmonies and unexpected modulations to distant keys, his fresh ideas, his ability to constantly surprise, and his technically demanding innovations, are unmatched in eighteenth century keyboard music.

Domenico Scarlatti was born in Naples in 1685, the same year as 1. S. Bach and G. F. Handel. In 1719 he was engaged as the Master of the Royal Chapel, and teacher of the Infanta Dona Barbara, in the court of Portugal. He moved to Madrid in 1729 in the service of Maria Barbara after her marriage to the Spanish crown prince, where he remained as a court composer and teacher until his death in 1757.

His originality and brilliance on the harpsichord, unmatched at the time, took the possibilities of the instrument to new levels with such novel techniques as the use of rapid passage work, broken thirds and arpeggios, large skips, crossing of the hands, octaves in both hands, and repeated notes. His long residence in the Iberian Peninsula inspired him with the rhythms and the folk elements so frequently stylized in his sonatas. Composed for his patrons, and to some extent for his own enjoyment, his keyboard music was not known to the public at large during his lifetime, although, according to S. Sitwell, "Until the appearance of Liszt, Domenico Scarlatti was the greatest virtuoso in history." Interestingly, Franz Liszt, probably the greatest keyboard virtuoso of all time, included Scarlatti's music in his concert programs in the nineteenth century. Scarlatti's remarkable keyboard music keeps its vitality, originality, and freshness into the twenty-first century.

From the beginning of the eighteenth century, the term 'bagatelles' had been used to describe a collection of short, unpretentious, and intimate instrumental pieces, often loosely-gathered, and without a cyclic connection to one another. Usually written for the piano, these were the precursors of the romantic character piece of the nineteenth century, François Couperin (1668-1733) having used the title Les Bagatelles for pieces in his Pieces de Clavecin (1716-17). Beethoven published three sets of Bagatelles for the piano: the seven bagatelles in Opus 33 (1802); eleven as Opus 119 (1821-23); and six as Opus 126 (1825). These define him as a master not only of the monumental works, with which we are more familiar, but of the small form as well. He undoubtedly returned to material composed in his early youth for some of the pieces in Opus 33, using ideas derived from folk music and dance-like elements. At the other extreme, the Opus 126 set remains the only important work that Beethoven wrote for the piano after the Diabelli Variations.

Even though the nature of bagatelles is fragmentary and incidental, in the hands of Beethoven such lighthearted 'trifles' become clearly profound. Through masterful and concentrated writing with numerous melodic and harmonic twists, he endows these works with a broad expression of moods. These miniatures reveal the genius of Beethoven and present delightful surprises for the performer and the listener alike.

Ahmet Adnan Saygun, Inci's Book, Op. 10, (1934) / 12 Preludes on Aksak Rhythms, Op. 45, (1967)

Adnan Saygun was the most prominent member the group that came to be called the Turkish Five, (along with
Cemal Resit Rey (1904-1985), Ulvi Cemal Erkin (1906-1972), Hasan Ferit Alnar (1906-1978), and Necil Kâzim Akses (1908-1999), which laid the groundwork for polyphonic music in the modern Turkish Republic. Saygun's musical education started in Izmir at an early age. In 1928 he went to Paris and studied composition with Eugéne Borrel and Madame Borrel at the Paris Conservatory and, later, at the Schola Cantorum he studied with Vincent d'Indy, Paul Le Flem, Edouard Souberbielle, and Amédée Gastoué.

Upon his return to Turkey in 1931, Saygun developed an intense interest in folk music and created a colorful and unique personal style through his creative fusion of Turkish folk music with western European techniques. In 1936 he accompanied Bartok on a journey through Anatolia collecting folk songs.

Saygun's compositional oeuvre is of major significance in a broad range of classical music. His 79 works with opus numbers include 5 symphonies, 5 operas, orchestral dances and variations, 2 ballet scores, 2 piano concertos, concertos for violin, viola, violoncello; 3 string quartets, sonatas for piano and violin, piano and violoncello; numerous chamber music compositions, as well as works for voice and orchestra which include the Yunus Emre Oratorio (conducted by Stokowski in New York in 1958), Cantata in the Old Style, 6 Meditations, and various works for voice and piano, folk song arrangements, and miscellaneous choral works.

His works for piano include Suite (1931), Inci's Book (1934), Sonatina (1938), From Anatolia (1945), Little Things (1950-52), Ten Etudes on Aksak Rhythms (1964), Twelve Preludes on Aksak Rhythms (1967), Fifteen Pieces on Aksak Rhythms (1967), Ballade for two pianos (1975), Ten Sketches on Aksak Rhythms (1976), Poem for Three Pianos (1986), Poem for Two Pianos (1989), and Piano Sonata (1990).

Inci's Book (1934) is an early composition consisting of short unambiguous episodes in a little girl's imaginary world. Saygun dedicated the work to his counterpoint teacher, Madame Borrel. The Prelude selections are from Preludes on Aksak Rhythms, Op. 45, (1967). According to the composer's own foreword to the work, "The term Aksak, borrowed from Turkish musical terminology, has been in use since the 1949 International Conference of Folk Music Specialists in Geneva, Switzerland, when musicologists designated this new category of rhythms. Aksak rhythms are produced by the combination of time units belonging to binary and ternary divisions on the condition that the tempo of these basic metrical units remains unaltered."

Leonard Bernstein, Touches (Chorale, 8 Variations, Coda), 1980

One of the most influential American musical figures of the second half of the twentieth century, Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990) left an unparalleled legacy as a conductor, composer, pianist and teacher. Bernstein became the Musical Director of the New York Philharmonic in 1958, a post he held until 1969. His rich legacy of over 500 recordings, mostly with the New York Philharmonic, spans works of Beethoven, Brahms, Copland, Haydn, Schumann, Sibelius, and Mahler. His own compositions include the Jeremiah Symphony (1943), the Age of Anxiety (1949), Candide (1956), Mass (1971), and Kaddish (1963). Bernstein also composed music for Broadway stage hits such as On the Town (1944), and the West Side Story (1957). Through his television program the Young People's Concerts, he was instru mental in introducing classical music to the popular audience.

Bernstein's works for solo piano include an early sonata (1938), 7 Anniversaries (1943), 4 Anniversaries (1948), 5 Anniversaries (1954), Sabras (1955), Touches (1980), Moby Diptych (1981), and 13 Anniversaries (1988). Touches was written in Fairfield, Connecticut in July 1980, and was commissioned for the sixth Van Cliburn Piano Competition in
1981 as a compulsory piece for the finalists. It makes heavy use of the coloristic possibilities of the piano as well as varied rhythmic changes and sudden dynamic extremes. Dedicated "To my first love, the keyboard," Bernstein explains in his opening text:

Touches
• (French) the keys of the keyboard.
• different 'feels' of the fingers, hands, and arms: deep, light, percussive, gliding, floating, prolonged, caressing...
• small bits (cf., "a touch of garlic"); each variation is a soupçon, lasting from 20 to 100 seconds apiece.
• vignettes of discrete emotions: brief musical manifestations of being "touched" or moved.
• gestures of love, especially between composer and performer, performer and listener.

Robert Muczynski, 6 Preludes, Op. 6, (1954)

One of the most distinguished of contemporary A m e r i c a n composers, as well as an accomplished pianist and teacher, Robert Muczynski was born in 1929 in Chicago of Polish-Slovak parents. He received his Bachelor of Music (1950) and Master of Music (1952) degrees, both in Piano Performance, from De Paul University in Chicago where he studied piano with Walter Knupfer, and composition with Alexander Tcherepnin (1899-1977).

In 1958 Muczynski made his Carnegie Hall debut where he performed a program of his own piano compositions. He was later to receive a number of awards for his compositions and commissions, among which were two grants from the Ford Foundation, the International Society for Contemporary Music Prize, the Concours Internationale Prize, and numerous ASCAP creative merit awards. His Concerto for Alto Saxophone and Chamber Orchestra Op. 41 was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in 1982. Additionally, Muczynski's music has been performed at many noteworthy venues such as the Lincoln Center, The Kennedy Center, Orchestra Hall in Chicago, and Wigmore Hall in London.

His works for piano include three sonatas composed in 1957, 1966, and 1974. Trained as a performing pianist, Muczynski's compositions for piano reveal his skilled and discerning use of the instrument. His early work 6 Preludes for Piano, Op. 6 is an imaginative and dynamic composition dedicated to Alexander Tcherepnin, who wrote of Muczynski's piano music: "Again and again, I admire the personal drama and lyricism in Muczynski's piano writing, which gives the pianist every opportunity of displaying his musicianship and virtuosity."