Ries: Piano Sonatas and Sonatinas, Vol. 3

Featuring

Susan Kagan
Ferdinand Ries

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Composer Biography

Ferdinand Ries, the composer on this album, was a family friend, piano student, and early biographer of Beethoven.

Performer Biography

Susan Kagan has received the Antonín Dvořák Award for her contribution to Czech musical culture and the Ira F. Brilliant Lifetime Achievement Award for Beethoven Performance and Studies.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Ries's piano writing anticipated the styles of early Romantic composers like Schubert, Mendelssohn, and Chopin, incorporating features such as poignant harmonic language and brilliant figuration.

Performer Biography

Susan Kagan, the pianist on this album, holds a Ph.D. from the City University of New York and founded the New York Chapter of the American Beethoven Society.

Compositional Technique

Ries's style includes dramatic dynamic contrasts, abrupt changes in tempo and mood, harmonic shifts, and radical use of the sustaining pedal to blur harmonies.