Bach and my Piano Sonata in B minor

Details

Marcello Severo full profile / solo piano / 1 musician

Full program notes

J.S. Bach: English Suite No. 2 in A minor
I. Prélude
II. Allemande
III. Courante
IV. Sarabande
V. Bourrée I/II
VI. Gigue

Marcello Severo: Piano Sonata in B minor
I. Allegro con brio
II. Andante
III. Presto

Improvised fantasia on the theme of the Goldberg Variations

In this program, I want to shine a new light on the music of J.S. Bach by juxtaposing my interpretation of his keyboard music with some of my original work, which draws substantially from the contrapuntal tradition that reached its height in his compositions. The thoroughly danceable and tuneful character of his A minor Suite is reflected in my Piano Sonata, in which I seek to adapt the virtues of Bach's style to a form more suited to the modern piano. As Bach was also renowned as an improviser, I will give my own extemporaneous take on his Goldberg Variations, whose harmonic progression I will treat very much like a 32-bar jazz form. In doing so I hope to recreate some of the spontaneity of Bach's art which is lost through the medium of music notation.

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Prelude and Fugue in D minor, BWV 875