Michael Boriskin, pianist
“For Aaron Copland” from Seven Anniversaries (1943) – Leonard Bernstein (1918–1990)
Piano Variations (1930) – Aaron Copland (1900–1990)
i. Theme: sharply, deliberamente
ii. Variation I: molto espressivo
iii. Variation II: marcato
iv. Variation III: simply, naively
v. Variation IV: molto legato
vi. Variation V
vii. Variation VI: marcato clangorous
viii. Variation VII: boldly
ix. Variation VIII: blurred but note accents
x. Variation IX: warmly, cantabile
xi. Variation X: marcato e legato
xii. Variation XI: lento, molto espressivo e liberamente
xiii. Variation XII; scherzando
xiv. Variation XIII: threatening
xv. Variation XIV: con brio
xvi. Variation XV: heavy staccato
xvii. Variation XVI: non legato
xviii. Variation XVII: very sharply
xix. Variation XVIII: scherzando
xx. Variation XIX: meno mosso, subito allegro
xxi. Variation XX: not too fast, well articulated, allegro vivo, brillante, accelerando.
El Salón México (1936); Arranged by Leonard Bernstein for solo piano (1939) – Copland
A bit of background. Mr. Boriskin is Artistic and Executive Director of Copland House, so he knows a thing or two about Aaron Copland. And Evan Leslie, of the Library for the Performing Arts, had done a little bit of research about the relationship between Leonard Bernstein and Copland. Bernstein first met Copland at a dance recital in NYC that took place on Copland’s birthday in 1937. Copland invited Bernstein’s party of four to join him at his loft for a get together he was having. While there, Bernstein sat at the piano (I’m unsure whether he was asked or just did) and played Piano Variations. (He was nineteen!) A strong and close friendship was the result of that first meeting. On to the music.
Bernstein’s piece that began the concert I attended had a chime-like opening that was modern, yet easy enough to listen to and enjoy. It was brief and pleasant.
The layout of the Copland Variations makes it look more daunting than it really is. It’s definitely a modern work with some passages that seem almost brutal, but it really is a theme and variations that are through composed—no distinct breaks between movements. The descriptive names make sense, even though by the time you go, “Ah, yes, I see that,” it’s passed you right on by. In fact, the Variations only takes about eleven minutes to play. (Two movements, we learned in a bit of discussion after hearing the work, take only eleven seconds each!) I’m obviously not going to comment on every variation, but I really could hear how they were all linked together, even if they were jangly and disparate. Somehow, it worked. I guess that’s what Bernstein understood early on. There was lots of drama, lots of dissonance, and lots of darned good music.
Because the piece was so short, Mr. Boriskin and Mr. Leslie had a bit of a tête-à-tête about the piece after the performance, and I learned a great deal. Copland went through a whole raft of names before settling on the (perfect, as far as I’m concerned) Piano Variations. As mentioned above, a pair of variations—twins, if you will—are each 11 seconds (I’m guessing by metronome marking, not by stopwatch). One of the most interesting things to me about the discussion was that I knew (a little bit, at least) what to listen for on second hearing. Some of it still went by too quickly for in-depth listening, but my subconscious had a few a-ha! moments the second time around. It was a nice experiment that paid off quite well.
The final piece on the program also had a bit of a back story. El Salón México, named after a dance club in Mexico, was a very popular orchestral work by Copland. When his publishers suggested that a piano version might be a good thing to have out there as well, Copland said that he knew just the right person for the job—Bernstein! It’s a great arrangement of a fun piece, if a bit thin in places. But it certainly has the fire of the orchestral version in spades.
The ‘Bernstein Findings’ portion of the title of the afternoon’s work comes from an autobiography of Bernstein titled Findings that was used for some of the program notes and discussion topics. So much to learn and so much great programming to listen to.
ConcertMeister
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