Dan Franklin Smith

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March 10th, 2011

Program notes for Recital Program, Soka University, Aliso Viejo, California

Padre Antonio Soler took over duties as organist and choirmaster at the monastery of Escorial, near Madrid, in 1752. This is where he became acquainted with the keyboard music of Domenico Scarlatti, and perhaps studied with him. In 1757, after Scarlatti’s death, Soler succeeded to the position of tutor to the Infante Gabriel de Borbón, for whom he wrote many of his sonatas. One can hear in Soler’s sonatas some startling modulations and certain guitar effects. Later works were more in the galant style of the early Classical period.

Joaquin Turina’s early musical training was in Seville and Madrid, later in Paris with Vincent d’Indy. His Paris years introduced him to Impressionism as well as the European late Romantic style, all of which informed his distinctively Spanish /Andalusian style. The Sonata Sanlucar de Barrameda is a descriptive and cyclical work, describing in sound the ancient Andalusian city of the same name: The Tower of the Castle; various sights in the old city seen by someone scurrying through; the shore; fishermen in the bay coming in with their catch. Thematic elements appearing in the first movement recur throughout the work.

Frederic Chopin’s Fourth Ballade (the greatest of his piano works) is a set of variations with intervening episodes of fantasy and reflection. It was published in 1843.

Rachmaninoff is deemed by many to be the greatest of the late Romantic composers for piano. But the advent of modern musical idioms during his career caused much of his music to be considered by his critics as old-fashioned. A complex contrapuntal style typical of late Romanticism is infused with a melodic and emotional intensity. Three of these four preludes may be less familiar than the famous G minor Op. 23, yet each is rich with musical ideas that could have been developed into a significantly larger work. Rachmaninoff on occasion accompanied the great violinist Fritz Kreisler. His complex transcription of Kreisler’s charming Viennese schmaltz keeps the charm but adds some fireworks.