Georgi Lekov in Recital

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Georgi Lekov full profile / Piano Solo / 1 musician

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Alexander Vladigerov (1933-1993) was the son of Pancho Vladigerov, one of the most prominent Bulgarian composers. An accomplished conductor, composer and pianist, Alexander wrote stage and symphonic music and some notable pieces for the piano, among them the “Dilmano, Dilbero” Variations and a toccata, both influenced strongly by Bulgarian rhythmic and melodic traditions.
“Dilmano Dilbero” Variations are based on a Bulgarian folk song in irregular, and constantly changing meter. The variations form roughly three sections, the outer ones vigorous in their exploration of rhythmic drive, with a lyrical, expansive, and mildly jazzy middle section offering respite and contrast. The piece ends with a furious coda, reiterating the popular melody in yet a few more imaginative guise.

It makes sense after such a work to have a piece such as George Rochberg's "Nach Bach". Of course, it has Bachian quotations and elaborations. The piece is relatively brief, only about five minutes, though some performances are longer.

After the intermission come two abstract works. The first is about six minutes long, Webern's Variations Op. 27. It is a 12-tone piece completed in 1936, when Webern had fallen out of favor with the Nazis then rising in power. Especially in the third (last) movement of the work, the music relies on rows of notes that shift and may seem "misaligned." The effect can be quite jarring. If you are sleepy, it will wake you!

The second abstract piece is Schnittke's "Variations on a Chord," which is about seven minutes long. It was composed in 1965 and was inspired by the second movement of Webern's variations. The chord in question is actually a series of six attacks over a sustaining pedal and consisting of all twelve chromatic notes in different registers. The effects might be considered harsh and playful at the very same time, perhaps typical of Schnittke.

The program ends with Bartók's 8 Improvisations on Hungarian Peasant Songs, Op. 20. Bartók was an avid collector of songs; one might consider him something of a musical anthropologist. But he did not just record the songs. He then used them in his own compositions, creatively rearranging what he heard. There might be a snippet in one spot that is not completed until measures later, among other devices; these works are meant to sound like they are improvised. His treatment of these eight songs, completed in 1920, starts relatively lean but then the complexities grow, until in the final three pieces, you will hear what is Bartók's most demanding writing for the piano. The seventh piece was written as a tribute to Debussy, who had died about two years earlier. This dirge was played in Paris at a memorial to Debussy, with a powerful effect on the audience.

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