Boston Conservatory at Berklee Professor Jonathan Bass performs works by Beethoven, Chopin, Howard Frazin, George Walker, Debussy, and Liszt. Bass is an acclaimed pianist who appears frequently throughout the United States and around the world as a soloist and chamber musician. A Steinway Artist, he made his New York debut at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Hall after he was awarded first prize in the 1993 Joanna Hodges International Piano Competition. Locally, he performs regularly at Symphony Hall, Jordan Hall, and Tanglewood, and his solo and chamber music recordings have received high acclaim from reviewers, including Gramophone Magazine. Learn more about Bass.
Program Information
Repertoire
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN: Sonata in A Major, Op. 101
I. Etwas lebhaft, und mit der innigsten Empfindung (Somewhat lively, and with innermost sensibility). Allegretto, ma non troppo.
II. Lebhaft, marschmäßig (Lively, march-like). Vivace alla marcia.
III. Langsam und sehnsuchtsvoll (Slow and longingly). Adagio, ma non troppo, con affetto.
IV. Geschwind, doch nicht zu sehr, und mit Entschlossenheit (Swiftly, but not overly, and with determination). Allegro.
FREDERIC CHOPIN: Ballade No. 2 in F Major, Op. 38
HOWARD FRAZIN: Overture to the Moon and Stars (2022)
— INTERMISSION —
GEORGE WALKER: Prelude (1945) and Caprice (1941)
CLAUDE DEBUSSY: Images, Book I
I. Reflects dans l’eau
II. Hommage à Rameau
III. Mouvement
FRANZ LISZT: Après une lecture due Dante—Fantasia quasi Sonata
Program Notes
HOWARD FRAZIN: Overture to the Moon and Stars (2022)
Even before the pandemic, it seemed you could feel the world had begun to spin just a little faster, and we were all losing our footing. Somehow this reminded me of the line "Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold" from Yeats's "The Second Coming." The poem was written in the aftermath of WWI and during the 1918-19 flu pandemic (when Yeats's wife, Georgie, caught the virus while pregnant and almost died). About a hundred years before, William Wordsworth wrote "The World Is Too Much With Us," another reflection on humankind's awkward coexistence in this world: "Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers; Little we see in Nature that is ours." Over time, it seems, while things change, they don't really change that much.
When I was a kid in Chicago in the 1960s, especially when things felt more unfriendly than usual, at night I would walk over to the little park around the corner and talk to the stars—and I always felt better for it. So, sitting all together, listening together to an overture to the moon and stars just now seems like a good thing. I hope so. Thank you to Jonathan Bass and the former Walden Chamber Players for commissioning this new work for piano. I am also forever grateful to Joan Smith for her generous help in funding this work, along with Ron and Cathy Bosch, Jimmy and Kelly Falkner, Danny Bernstein, and Marla Krupman.
– Howard Frazin
About the Artist
Jonathan Bass, piano, is an acclaimed performing artist and Boston Conservatory at Berklee professor who has been featured across the United States and around the world as a soloist and chamber musician. He has been a regular presence in Boston and Tanglewood for 30 years. Learn more about Bass.
Concert Services Staff
Senior Manager of Concert Services – Luis Herrera
Concert Production Coordinator – Matthew Carey
Concert Production Manager – Kendall Floyd
Manager of Performance Technology – Wes Fowler
Performance Technology Technicians – Sara Pagiaro, Goran Daskalov
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