Tcherepnin: 5 Concert Etudes / Gould: Pieces of China / Adams: China Gates

Featuring

Jenny Lin
Gioachino Rossini
Abram Chasins
Percy Grainger
Anton Arensky
Alexander Tcherepnin

Cyril Scott
Ferruccio Busoni
Morton Gould
Jacqueline Waeber-Diaz
John Adams
Leo Ornstein
Bohuslav Martinů
Albert Ketèlbey

Did you know?

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Composer Biography

Gioacchino Rossini, a famous opera composer, retired from music at age 37 and spent the last ten years of his life composing occasional pieces and sacred music, including his 'Péchés de vieillesse' (Sins of Old Age) albums.

Composer Biography

Cyril Scott, known as the 'English Debussy,' was an English composer who studied Oriental philosophy and devoted himself to theosophy and occultism, despite never visiting the East.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Western artists, including painters, poets, and musicians, have often been drawn to an imaginary Orient, finding fascination in its generally unknown territory.

Composition History

The Five ('Chinese') Concert Etudes by Alexander Tcherepnin were composed in Shanghai for Lee Hsien-Ming, his future wife, and are considered the most authentically Chinese works in this recital.

Composer Biography

Alexander Tcherepnin, a prolific composer and globetrotter, spent almost three years in China and Japan, developing a passion for traditional East Asian music and marrying Chinese concert pianist Lee Hsien-Ming.

Composer Biography

Abram Chasins, a New York-based pianist, teacher, and biographer, was very popular from the 1920s to the 1940s and readily assimilated popular music styles.

Compositional Technique

Romantic and post-Romantic composers renewed their tonal language by incorporating melodic and harmonic material from the Chinese pentatonic scale, easily imitated on the piano's black keys.