Program Notes
The program traces an arc through the European musical imagination at a moment of profound transformation, with Poland and France as its twin poles. From Chopin's youthful Rondo and Szymanowski's wild Tatra highlands to Debussy's shimmering faun, Satie's austere Socrates, and Ravel's disintegrating ballroom, the music spans a century of restless reinvention across two cultures bound by deep artistic kinship. Yet a thread runs through it all: each work is, in some sense, a translation — of folk ritual, of poetry, of myth, of orchestral color — rendered here in the intimate, four-handed conversation of two pianos.
More information about Martin Labazevitch: https://labazevitch.com
Program
● Chopin - Rondo Op.73 (1828)
● Szymanowski – “Harnasie” (1931), two pianos transcription of the ballet-pantomime made by Joanna Domanska
Tableau I – In the Mountain Pasture
1. Transhumance
2. Mimic Scene (Courtship)
3. The Tatra Robbers’ March
4. Mimic scene (The Harnaś and the Girl)
5. The Tatra Robbers’ Dance. Finale
Tableau II – In the Inn
6a The Wedding
6b. Capping the Bride
6c. Boys’ Song
7. The Tatra Highlanders’ Dance
8. Raid of the Harnasie. Dance. Abduction of the Bride
9. Epilogue
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● Debussy - Prélude à l'Après-midi d'un faune L.86 (1894), composer’s own transcription for two pianos
● Satie - Portrait de Socrate, from 1919 symphonic drama “Socrate”, two piano transcription made by John Cage
● Ravel - La valse, poème chorégraphique pour orchestra (1920), composer’s own transcription for two pianos