Piano Recital

I went to the recital on Sunday, April 15th, in Recital Hall at 5 p.m., performed by Jin-Kyung Yang. She played three pieces in the recital, they are Sonata in D Major, Op.28 (“Pastorale”) by Ludwig van Beethoven, Estampes (1903) by Claude Debussy, and Prelude, choral et fugue (1884) by Cesar Frank.

The first piece Sonata in D Major, Op.28 (“Pastorale”) has a nick name of Pastoral or Pastorale. Beethoven composed this piece while he suffered from worsening hearing. It was published in 1801, however, not as famous. This piece requires subtle techniques and serene mood.

• Allegro giusto has an A minor key. “Giusto” means exact, so this movement needs accuracy. However, it does not means this movement should sounds like a metronome. The pianist still took her time, but the rhythm, emotion and technic still need to be somewhat exact.
• Andante lands on F major. “Andante” means go or move. So the whole movement was quicker and had a sense of flowing.
• Allegro vivace is back to A minor. It was a very delight movement.  This movement was very light and joyful.

The style of Sonata in A minor, D.784 is still pretty classic but towards romantic. The style is similar to Mozart or Beethoven. The Sonata structure is very clear by having exposition, development and recapitulation. It starts on one key, changed to another key in development and go back to the original key in recapitulation.

Suite, Sz.62 (1916) is a 20-century piece. It was one of Bela Bartok’s most famous and significant compose. According to the culture background, this piece blended some Arabic and North American factors. Suite, Sz.62 broke Bela Bartok’s post-romantic writing style from his early stage.

• Allegretto’s speed is moderately slightly fast, but not very fast. It has a sense of folk song.
• Scherzo is very dexterous and light. It is a lively and full of humor and banter movement. The whole movement used augmented triads.
• Allegro moltoi’s rhythm is very quick. Left hand in this movement keep the same chords, which is called “ostinato”
• Sostenut’s rhythm moves from slow to fast. It was also a light movement.

Suite, Sz.62 (1916) has a general rhythm and tempo, but each movement under has different changes of tempo. In general, the speed moves from slow to fast. Bela Bartok was a 20-century nationalistic composer. His work, especially this piece has a strong feeling of nationalism. The music, however, sounds little disharmony.

Nocturne in E Major, Op. 62 No. 2, Nocturne in E Minor, Op. 72 No. 1 (Op. posth.), and Ballade No 1 in G minor, Op. 23 by Fryderyk Chopin are very beautiful and lyrical. Mdlle de Konneritz published them around 1846.