Scenes of Childhood Concert Program

Scenes of Childhood

Kinderszenen/Scènes d'enfants

A Concert Program for Solo Piano Conceived by Mark Irchai

Program Notes “A painter told me that nobody could draw a tree without in some sort becoming a tree; or draw a child by studying the outlines of its form merely but by watching for a time his motions and plays, the painter enters into his nature and can then draw him at every attitude.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson Capturing the passion and wanderlust of childhood is a difficult task for any artist.

It is a moment most-fleeting, gone when one makes the mistake of looking away.

Yet it remains the subject of artwork across all disciplines. Scores of paintings have been made, depicting childhood from all manner of varying perspectives.

Films and books have been written almost continuously on the subject, and

we still possess significant poetry from the first writings of man that goes into length about thoughts of childhood.

The most iconic attempt at capturing this moment in our lives in the medium of classical music is perhaps none other than Robert Schumann’s Kinderszenen.

It’s been made famous by scores of performances, as well as recordings made long after its publication. I personally grew up with a recording of Träumerei/Dreaming, made live at Vladimir Horowitz’s late-in-life performance in Vienna. Yet it is a distinctly unmodern take on childhood, in the lens of the 21st century. It’s a familiar sound-world, one that I have often found myself returning to after a long day spent in the flux of music from other genres or other time periods. And, thus, it concludes, rather than begins, the program.

This concert begins, instead, with selections from Chick Corea’s Childrens Songs. Chick Corea, who passed away in 2021, often performed selections from his

set, which is simultaneously conceived as music both jazz and classical in nature, advocating for improvisation and tones alla Bela Bartok on opposite turns of the page. These selections are modeled after a performance Chick Corea gave in ’82 in Munich, albeit with improvisations that far differ from the master jazz pianist’s.

We then turn to Peggy Glanville-Hicks – a composer whose works have been largely overlooked following their premieres, perhaps except for the Prelude for a Pensive Pupil. This is a piece that carries the sounds of a shifting sound world that poise it to sit quite comfortably between the worlds of Corea and Bartok, with all the nuance of whirling color.

In a similar, yet distinctly distant, sonic world lies Bela Bartok’s Mikrokosmos. The Mikrokosmos was conceived as a piano method, beginning with music that can be played by the youngest of piano beginners, and concluding with music, particularly in the final two books, that is intended for professional concert performance. The Six Dances in Bulgarian

Rhythm, which conclude the final book, are intricate, complex folk dances that bloom out of the world of Chick Corea, allowing childlike nature to display in vivid coloration.

To draw us into the world of Schumann, we must make a temporary stop in the impressionism of Federico Mompou, in his own Scènes d'enfants. His own Scenes forms a set that is more vague about the characters involved – leaving, in typical impressionistic flavor, the impression of images of childhood – of play, of excitement, and of discovery.

Schumann’s famous set concludes this program. The titles of each of the movements, curiously, were written as afterthoughts – though they are hardly ever disassociated from their titles in modern conception. One might invite the audience to consider the nature of these titles as an afterthought, and how they influence the adult perception of childhood wonder and life.

It is that invitation that I extend to you, the audience – to consider the adult perception, and the childlike perception, of the music as it is presented. What deeper core it holds for you, and for your youth.

Concert Program Chick Corea: Selections from Children’s Songs (1971-1984) I. II. III. V. VI. X. XI. XIII. XVII. XIX. XX. Peggy Glanville-Hicks: Prelude for a Pensive Pupil (1958) Bela Bartok: Six Dances in Bulgarian Rhythm from Mikrokosmos, Book 6 (19261939)

Intermission

Federico Mompou: Scènes d'enfants (1918) I. Cris dans la rue/Shouting in the Street II. Jeux sur la place/Games in the Square I. II. III. III. Jeunes filles au Jardin/Young Girls in the Garden Robert Schumann: Kinderszenen (1838) I. Von fremden Ländern und Menschen /From Foreign Lands and Peoples II. Kuriose geschichte/A Curious Story III. Hasche-Mann/Catch Me IV. Bittendes kind/Entreating Child V. Glückes genug /Perfect Happiness VI. Wichtige Begebenheit/An Important Event VII. Träumerei/Dreaming VIII. Am Kamin/By the Fireside IX. Ritter von Steckenpferd/Knight of the Rocking Horse

X. XI. XII. XIII.

Fast zu Ernst/Almost too Serious Fürchtenmachen /Frightening Kind im Einschlummern/Child falling asleep Der Dichter spricht/The Poet Speaks

Presented at Cherrydale United Methodist Church on April 24, 2022 at 3pm ET Presented at Annandale United Methodist Church on May 15, 2022 at 3pm ET