Edendale Library Up Close Concerts 6/18/21 at 6:00 pm PT

(All Edendale concerts information before 2021 is archived at http://edendaleupclose.blogspot.com )

VIEW the archived performance by pianist Brendan White

on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_B2okc_W_RI

This recital was originally presented on Friday, June 18th at 2:30 p.m. PDT on Zoom.

We are very excited to be able to continue our Edendale Up Close series (which we used to present live at the library) online, and we hope you can attend.  Thanks so much to Jacqueline Suzuki and Fulcrum Arts Emerge / Kewa Civic Concerts for making this and future performances possible. 


Program:

Alexander Scriabin - Prelude Op. 37, No. 1


George Gershwin - Three Preludes

 

Brendan White - Prelude

 

Chad Latta - War Fantasy

 

Johann Sebastian Bach - Prelude and Fugue in C Major from WTC Book I  

 

Alexander Scriabin - Sonata No. 10, Op. 70


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Program notes: 
 

This short concert is a set of pieces from different time periods and styles, featuring some well-known and other less-known classical pieces alongside two newly composed works, one by the performer, the other by Chad Latta, and ending with the radiant and mystical final sonata of Russian composer Alexander Scriabin.

Scriabin also composed the first piece on the program, his Prelude in B-flat minor. A youthful portrait of romantic melancholy, it gives a taste of what the composer was like before his musical language expanded to what we will hear later in the 10th Sonata.

Next are the three Preludes of George Gershwin. His Preludes are classical in form but infused with elements of early jazz rhythm and harmony, resulting in fresh and dynamic virtuoso piano music of the highest caliber.

I have also contributed a Prelude to this concert. My own piece is a simple, mostly soothing piece that began on the ukulele in an attempt to write something light, a sort of poppy dance to cheer myself up.  After playing it on the piano, it changed and took off in other directions, but a persistent rhythm holds it all together as it cycles through moods and textures, until finally the piece seems to evaporate into thin air.

The War Fantasy by Ohio-based composer Chad Latta is a contemplation of humanity’s fascination with warfare. In what could be called a neo-romantic style, the piece desperately moves between the militaristic and rhapsodic, often quoting military marches. The pianist at times seems to be at war with the piano, as the treacherous barrages of notes make it a dangerous endeavor for the performer.

J.S. Bach makes an appearance on the program with his famous Prelude and Fugue in C Major. These two pieces strike an ideal balance between the simple and profoundly earnest prelude and the active and ornate fugue.

To end the program is Scriabin’s tenth and final sonata, which he described as a “bright, joyful, earthly” work. It is cast in a single movement that begins softly, but gradually opens up into enormous climaxes overcome by trills, before collapsing under its own weight and dying away into nothingness.

 -Brendan White 

 

ARTIST BIOS:

 Chad Latta is a composer, pianist and teacher employed at Stivers School for the Arts where he teaches piano and musicianship. His music has been performed by groups such as Sequitur Ensemble, Ossia and Dayton Philharmonic. Currently working on music for film and is eager to connect with directors, cinematographers etc. Feel free to reach out to him at latta.chad28@gmail.com  



War Fantasy is an unfinished work that aims to weave as many military type themes and motives into a complete fantastical work of piano virtuosity and brute strength. Some themes to listen for are The Entrance of the GladiatorsU.S. Field Artillery March 1775, Battle Cry of Freedom and We’ll Meet Again

 

 


Pianist Brendan White has appeared as soloist with the Jackson Symphony Orchestra, Musica Nova (Eastman School of Music), Delta Symphony Orchestra, Crown City Symphony, and the Vicente Chamber Orchestra. White’s collaborations in Southern California have included the Mühlfeld Trio, which won the prestigious Beverly Hills Auditions, the Kaleidoscope Chamber Orchestra, the Speakeasy Society, and Eighteen Squared. He is also a founding member of the Sunset ChamberFest in Los Angeles; www.sunsetchamberfest.com 

Local recital appearances include: Glendale Noon Concerts, Pasadena Presbyterian Music at Noon, Music@Mimoda, Mason Concerts, Emerging Artist Series Recital at Boston Court, Soundwaves series in Santa Monica.

White was born and raised in Tennessee before attending Eastman to study with Thomas Schumacher, and then, the University of Southern California, with Kevin Fitz-Gerald, where he was awarded Outstanding Master’s Graduate of the Thornton School of Music. As a devoted performer of new music, he has worked with notable composers and conductors including Thomas Adès, Donald Crockett, Alan Pierson, Steven Stucky and Jeffrey Milarsky. Artist website: https://www.facebook.com/PianoBrendan

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Edendale Library Up Close Concerts