Whimsical Birdsong: Miroirs

Details

Kessa Mefford full profile / Solo piano / 1 musician

Full program notes

This program is centered around Maurice Ravel’s longest work for solo piano, Miroirs. The suite has 5 pieces, each one painting a different picture through sound. We will have “Night Moths,” “Sad Birds,” “A Boat on the Ocean,” “The Jester’s Morning Song,” and “The Valley of Bells.” I am a pianist specializing in the music of Maurice Ravel; Whimsical Birdsong is the name of a concert series I have started with the goal of presenting all of his music in a way that audiences can connect with. To add some more context to Miroirs, I have also programmed his Jeux d’eau, which translates loosely to “Fountains.” Jeux d’eau is an earlier work in Ravel’s life, one of his first attempts at this idea of trying to paint a specific picture through sound. Jeux d’eau in particular was inspired by another composer who wrote a work with a very similar image in mind, “The Fountains at the East Village” by Franz Liszt, which I will also perform. This program will take the listener on a journey of visualization, allowing the music to come to life in a way that activates the imagination.

Historical context

I will be performing music by Franz Liszt and Maurice Ravel, two important classical composers from their respective eras. Liszt was a staple of the “Romantic” period of classical music, though the piece I will be performing is almost a precursor to the more modern minimalist period in his long phrases and gradually changing harmonies. Ravel is generally considered to be from the “Impressionist” period. Although he did not like the term as he considered it primarily an artistic movement for the visual arts, the pieces I will be performing on this program are quite possibly his most “Impressionist” given their focus on bringing images to life with music.

Videos from this player