Stefan Wolpe, Vol. 8: Music for 2 Pianos

Featuring

Steven Beck
Susan Grace
Quattro Mani
Stefan Wolpe

Did you know?

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Recording & Production

This recording was made with the generous support of the Stefan Wolpe Society, Inc., and the Colorado College Music Department.

Historical Context

Stefan Wolpe, a Communist-aligned modernist composer and Jew, was under threat of arrest by the Nazis in 1933 and had to flee Germany.

Compositional Technique

Stefan Wolpe's March and Variations for Two Pianos is structured around a 'Revolutionary Scenario' with five stages, including a pastoral idyll, awakening of protest, struggle, funeral march, and celebration of victory.

Composition History

Stefan Wolpe began his March and Variations for Two Pianos in 1932, intending it to be the centerpiece of concerts with Irma Schoenberg to support the resistance.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Stefan Wolpe believed music's function was to spur people to action, insisting that its 'onrushing energy' could educate, drive, and ultimately change the listener.

Composer Biography

Stefan Wolpe, the composer, met Romanian pianist Irma Schoenberg while she was teaching Jacques-Dalcroze eurhythmics at the Berlin Musikhochschule.

Composition History

The ballet The Man from Midian was originally commissioned from Darius Milhaud, but when the management refused to schedule it, Stefan Wolpe was commissioned for a new setting.