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Piano Concert

Oliver Peart

featuring

Saturday, February 18th at 7:30 pm

Classical music in the neighbourhood

Pay What You Can to support both the artist and St. John's

Mozart - Sonata no.15 in F major, K.533

Oliver Peart - The Flowerbeds

Bach Prelude and Fugue in E minor (Book One)

Bach Prelude and Fugue in F major (Book Two)

Oliver Peart - The Happy and Peaceful Forest and its Stream

Oliver Peart - The Rainbow

Debussy - Preludes, Book 1 (I and II)

Debussy - L'isle joyeuse

I will be playing two of Bach's preludes and fugue; one of Mozart's sonatas; two of Debussy's preludes and his grandiose piece L'Isle joyeuse; and some of my compositions. The overall repertoire includes three contrasting styles – baroque, classical and modern - and a high variety of temperaments including serenity, wittiness and vigour. I have chosen two contrasting preludes and fugues, one from each of Books One and Two of Bach's Well-tempered Klavier, his famous work that includes pieces in all twelve keys. The first prelude and fugue is in E-minor, a key that for me is dark and foreboding; and the second is in F-major, which has a peaceful and tranquil character. Mozart's Sonata No.15, K.533 was composed towards the end of his short life, and is considered one of his most famous dramatic and contrapuntal pieces. The Allegro movement has two contrasting themes. The Andante starts with a serene temperament, but then develops with a more foreboding character. The Rondo Allegretto has several contrasting characters – ranging from the playful to the dramatic. L'Isle joyeuse was inspired by Antoine Watteau’s 1717 painting ‘Le Pèlerinage à l’Isle Cithère,' which symbolically depicts couples at different stages of romantic interest. Debussy completed the piece in 1904, when on holiday on the Isle of Jersey with his mistress (and, later, second wife) Emma Bardoc, while still married to his first wife, Rosalie Texier. This outrage would later lead to Rosalie’s attempted suicide, hence it was a time of mixed emotions. Like the Impressionist art of his time, a style of painting that broke from tradition in its focus on naturalistic settings, use of colour and light in movement, and manner of conveying emotional atmosphere, Debussy’s L’Isle joyeuse deployed novel compositional techniques to communicate the shimmering, changing and uncertain nature of love. My compositions were inspired by three various aspects of nature – a rainbow, flowerbeds and a peaceful forest.

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