"Nocturne" features (from left to right) Lucy Parham (piano) and Juliet Stevenson and Henry Goodman (words)
What a line-up for the fourth concert in the Potton Hall Concert Series to be held on Sunday 1 August at 19h30. Nocturne is a setting of music and words describing the romantic life of Frederic Chopin.
Lucy Parham has compiled Nocturne with the help of letters, diaries and correspondence written by Chopin, George Sand and their contemporaries. Nocturne’s debut was made to a sold-out Wigmore Hall on the 18th July this year .
Lucy further describes Nocturne on her website mentioning that it was recently chosen by The Times as “The Best Chopin of the Year”. Lucy is joined by two artists who certainly need no introduction: Juliet Stevenson who has a home in Suffolk and Henry Goodman
Tickets costing £15 each are available online, or can be purchased at local outlets: Focus Organic, Halesworth and Serendipity, Southwold or by calling 01728 648 265. Don’t miss out – this is going to be a popular one!
MUSIC LIST FOR “ NOCTURNE”
The featured music is not in chronological order. It was chosen more to reflect the mood of the story and to enhance the words.
Nocturne in C minor Op.48 No.1
Polonaise in A Op. 40 No.1
Waltz in C sharp minor Op.64 No.2
Etude in A flat Op.25 No.1
Mazurka in D Op.33 No.2
Ballade No.3 in A flat Op.47
I N T E R V A L
Mazurka in A minor Op.67 No.4
Prelude in D flat Op.28 (raindrop)
Prelude in G minor Op.28
Waltz in D flat Op.64 No.1 (petit chien)
Nocturne in D flat Op.27 No.2
Ballade No.4 in F minor Op.52
PROGRAMME NOTES FOR “NOCTURNE”
Inspired by the Irish composer, John Field, Chopin’s 21 Nocturnes have a unique and significant place in the history of solo piano music. Influenced by Bellini’s “bel canto” operas, the Nocturne evokes the mood of a dreamy and sometimes starless night by spinning a long melodic line over a flowing bass line. Op.27 No.2 in D flat is one of the most popular and its dreamy mood depicts the summer evenings at Nohant that Chopin so loved.
The Nocturne in C minor Op.48 No.1 is possibly his finest work in this genre. Dark and foreboding, its opening bars predict a gloom and desperation from which this haunting work never escapes more than momentarily.
Composed between 1832 and 1836, the Op.25 Études remain some of the most technically demanding works in the repertoire. Chopin dedicated this set to Liszt’s mistress, Marie d’Agoult, through whom he met George Sand. No.1 in A flat is often known as “Aeolian Harp” because of its long melodic line surrounded by an arpeggiated accompaniment.
Whilst Chopin spent the majority of his adult life in Paris, his musical soul always remained in Poland. And it is in Poland that the two dance forms of Mazurka and Polonaise originated.
The Mazurka is a country dance and it was Chopin that introduced it into concert music. Like many Mazurkas, the Polonaises are also in ¾ time but were known as a more of an upper-class dance – processional and courtly in stature. The A major Polonaise Op.40 (the “Military”) is a patriotic “call to arms” of Chopin’s most well-known. The D major Mazurka Op.33 No.2 depicts its folk origins with a spirit of dance and contrasts vividly with the much more haunting and poignant A minor, Op 67 No.4. In total, Chopin wrote 57 mazurkas and they remain some of most elusive and musically challenging works for the pianist.
Chopin was said to have been captivated by a dog chasing its tail when he wrote the Waltz in D flat Op.67 No.1. Known in France as the “Petit Chien”, its whirling and dexterous right-hand figuration have made it a popular encore piece and, despite its other nickname, it was never intended to be played in one minute! The second waltz of the pair, the Waltz in C sharp minor, is a far more reflective and wistful piece. Although the Waltz was a popular dance in the nineteenth century, Chopin’s Waltzes were never written to be danced to.
Chopin completed his set of 24 Préludes Op.28 during his time with George Sand in Majorca in 1838. Whilst on the island Sand wrote of them, “many of them are melancholy and suave and others are of gentle sadness which, while charming your ear, break your heart.” The “Raindrop” is said to depict the raindrops beating on the rooftiles of the monastery that they were living in and Sand says “in his mind and in his music they had become tears from heaven beating on his heart”.
The Four Ballades remain at the heart of most pianists’ repertoire. All four are bound only by their title and present enormous challenges to the performer. The Ballade No.3 in A flat represents Chopin at his most optimistic, whilst the Ballade No.4 in F minor is one of his deepest, most profound and finest works in extended form.
Notes by Lucy Parham
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