Mason New Era Bagatelles (2019)
Quinn Mason (b.1996) is an American award winning composer and conductor based in Dallas, Texas. Considered one of the most sought after composers in the country, he has composed for orchestras, chamber ensembles, and solo instruments, including piano. Mr. Mason’s mission is to compose music for various mediums “based in traditional western art music and reflecting the times in which we currently live.” He states that “The New Era Bagatelles were written for the purpose of exploring the lyrical and technical aspects of the piano, kind of like etudes but more compact. I came up with the title for the pieces because I wanted to write bagatelles that utilized a contemporary style while still being accessible for the listener and performer.” These bagatelles are his most current solo piano compositions, written in 2019 then revised in 2023.
Chopin Berceuse, Op. 57 and Sonata No. 2 in Bb minor, Op. 35
George Sand’s country estate in Nohant, France is about halfway between Paris and Bordeaux. This location played a large role in Chopin’s musical life. Both pieces on today’s program were composed there. Sand’s home served as an occasional refuge for many artists, including Liszt, Balzac, Turgenev and Delacroix. Sand took the already ailing Chopin to her home and cared for him over seven summers, beginning when he was just 27. She wanted him to recuperate and get a break from the demands of life in Paris. Every year Sand paid to transport a loaned Pleyel piano to the house and about two thirds of Chopin’s compositions were written here. This luxurious estate is now managed by the French government, so on your next visit go see for yourself. A Chopin festival is held in Nohant every summer, so even though the personal relationship between Sand and Chopin went up in spectacular flames, Chopin still brings in visitors from all over the world.
The Berceuse, 1844, is a lullaby. There are 16 variations in the right hand over a repeated figure in the left. The left hand doesn’t change until the very end, while the right hand delivers these intriguing variations over that ostinato (Richard Wagner once dismissed Chopin as “a composer for one right hand”). The ending brings the original melodic statement back, providing a sense of finality and calm. It’s been interesting to research this piece, in an unexpected way. There are an inordinate number of articles and references on how difficult (or not) the piece might be, plus numerous tutorials on how to play it. There are many, many YouTube performances – but you have to search high and low to find relevant information about the composition itself. Someone on YouTube posted “This little stinker is actually pretty technically challenging for non-serious practice over 2 weeks. Let me know what you think.” (What I think is that maybe you could try “serious practice”! And….and…. did you actually call the Chopin Berceuse “a little stinker”?) I found one version with “relaxing rolling waves and ocean sounds” superimposed over it. But please, listen and enjoy our guest’s version of this beautiful piece. Sand had padded doors installed to the room where Chopin worked at Nohant – these are still there. Were those to keep his sounds in or the house sounds out?
Sand described Chopin’s artistic process this way: “His creation was spontaneous and miraculous. He found it without seeking it… It came on his piano suddenly, complete, sublime, or it sang in his head during a walk when he was impatient to play it to himself. But then he began the most heart-rending labor I ever saw. It was a series of efforts, of frettings …what he had conceived as a whole he analyzed too much when wishing to write it, and his regret at never finding it again… clearly defined, threw him into a kind of despair. He shut himself up for whole days, weeping, walking, breaking his pens, repeating and altering a bar a hundred times, writing it and erasing it as many times, and recommencing the next day… He spent six weeks over a single page to write it at last as he had noted it down the very first.” (My theory, then, is that the padded doors were to keep his sounds in, or perhaps Sand’s yelling out!)
The Sonata No. 2 in Bb minor, Op. 35 opens with four intense slow measures, then breaks into a fast, galloping main theme. A passage of extreme agitation leads to a gorgeous second theme, then the main theme returns. The second movement is dramatic, virtuosic and brilliant. The third movement is known to everyone. This funeral march was composed two years ahead of the other movements, apparently the motivating force for the other three. The powerful, tragic music of the opening leads to a lovely second theme, then the march returns. The last movement is simply wild. It’s about 1.5 minutes long, with only two notes played at any time until the last chord. The right and left hands play exactly an octave apart. It is a breathtaking and challenging run. Hold your breath!
Prokofiev Romeo and Juliet Prokofiev was approached by the Bolshoi Ballet in 1935 to compose music for Romeo and Juliet. For the duration of this artistic work he was provided a small private apartment at Polenovo, the holiday home for the Bolshoi. Located less than 100 miles from Moscow, Prokofiev was given lodging, meals, and supplies so that he could focus solely on composition. He liked the subject of the ballet, his financial security was guaranteed, and he was working with talented collaborators. The original piano score was completed in about four months, then he took a few more weeks to orchestrate it. Later Prokofiev arranged two orchestral suites for orchestra and created a solo piano version of ten pieces (1937).
The partnership with the choreographer was prickly from the beginning. Many requests for changes required Prokofiev to oblige, but the composer fought many changes, refused to write new material, and even boycotted rehearsals. “The dancers complained about the unpredictable melodism, crunchy harmonies, the ‘undanceable’ rhythm and the inaudible orchestration. They threatened to strike shortly before opening night. The legendary ballerina and creator of the role of Juliet, Galina Ulanova, was reported to have quipped, ‘Never was a tale of greater woe than Prokofiev’s music for Romeo’”(Anthony Weinstein, 2015).
The Ten Pieces, Op. 75, include Folk Dance, The Street Awakens, Arrival of the Guests, Juliet as a Young Girl, Masquers, Montagues and Capulets, Friar Laurence, Mercutio, Dance of the Girls with Lilies, and Romeo and Juliet before Parting. Stravinsky Three Movements from Petrushka
Following the success of The Rite of Spring Stravinsky decided to tackle Petrushka with its roots in Russian puppet theatre. He began work on the first sketches and wrote to his mother: “…my Petrushka is turning out each day completely new and there are new disagreeable traits in his character, but he delights me because he is absolutely devoid of hypocrisy.” Petrushka is a trickster, a clown who is “playful, quarrelsome, mercurial, antiauthoritarian, naughty, and indestructible.” Stravinsky composed at the piano, even when he was working on an orchestral score. He said “I think it is a thousand times better to compose in direct contact with the physical medium of sound.” Nadia Boulanger pointed out that he was a tactile man who felt his way on the piano to new ideas. To many the composer seemed to compose more with his hands than with his mind (K.G. Brown). The ballet version of Petrushka has four imaginary scenes from a storybook which come to life. Petrushka opened on June 13, 1911, at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris to overwhelming success (Meg Ryan). The story tells of three puppets who magically come to life, a tale replete with love, jealousy and murder. Petrushka dies at the end but comes back in ghostly form to thumb his nose at the others.
Three Movements from Petrushka for solo piano were composed ten years later for Stravinsky’s friend, pianist Arthur Rubinstein, and are dedicated to him. Rubinstein paid 5,000 francs for the score. Stravinsky is very explicit in stating that the movements are not transcriptions. He was not trying to reproduce the sound of the orchestra, but wished to compose a pianistic piece with musical material drawn from the ballet. He wanted to create a work which would encourage pianists to play his music, with a piece where they could display their technique. Let there be no doubt. It is notorious for its technical difficulties. For example, the last movement has long passages of trills in thirds, some of which must be played in the left hand using the 4th finger while the left thumb delivers a separate melody. Try that on the arm of your seat during intermission. Good luck!
© Diane Baxter, 2025
