Thoughts from the Artistic Director: Piano Four Hands

The four-hand piano literature (i.e. music for four hands at one piano) is not to be confused with its cousin, music for two pianos, which is an entirely different genre with a distinct set of playing requirements. Piano four hands is, of course, more economical – it requires only one piano! It is both intimate and grand, and for seasoned pianists playing piano four hands for the first time, the genre can present technical challenges of a completely unique order than those found in the solo realm.

First, two people who are used to owning an entire piece of piano real estate are asked to share the 88 keys (and not only share them, but to get comfortable enough to work all the keys to the service of the composer!). The “secondo” pianist (the one playing on the bottom half of the keyboard) has his/her physical orientation turned completely upside down. Contrary to solo playing, the left hand of a “secondo” pianist is more important because it supplies the vital bass support for the other three voices (or hands) above it. The right hand, typically the diva in solo piano literature with all the melodies and pyrotechnics, is required to play the role of the subtle inner voice, where different colors, shades, and moods are created. (Robert Schumann said that real music lies in the inner voices of a composition!)

The “primo” pianist (the person playing the top half of the keyboard) has challenges of his/her own as well. Accustomed to playing a strong supporting role in solo piano, the left hand has to learn to function with the right hand of the “secondo” player in order to create magical colors. The right hand of the “primo” player carries the melody at the highest register of the piano; but instead of having one hand to support it, as in solo music, it has to contend with three. Creating the right balance so the melody can sing effortlessly above all the intricacies of the other three hands is the most exciting challenge of playing piano four hands.

In addition, there’s also the matter of the pedal – which of the four feet will work the pedals? What will it feel like to have someone else pedal for you? (Contrary to most anatomy reports, a pianist’s foot and fingers are indeed connected!) And remember, all of these new challenges are taking place while two pianists are sitting elbow-to-elbow with each other.

Music for piano four hands has been available and popular in Europe almost as long as music for solo piano. All the composers of the First Viennese School in late 18th century Vienna (like Haydn, Mozart, Schubert, and Beethoven) wrote music for this genre, both on a teaching level and for the concert platform. Schubert was known to have written many little pieces for his students, many of whom were daughters of royalty. He would play the “primo” right hand and arranged for his left hand to play the “secondo” bass part!

While music for two pianos has made its way to the concert stage more frequently here in America, the four hand piano has not. This absence might be due to the technical challenges required to do the composer justice on the concert platform, which necessitates a long association with one’s partner, much like a well-seasoned string quartet and the intuitive rapport between each of the four players. Or perhaps the piano four hand might seem too intimate a genre for our very large concert halls?

Also, I speculate the genre itself may have been overshadowed by the phenomenon of arrangements, which was introduced to American households in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a period when the piano was as common as the kitchen sink in a home and when music was made daily by a family. Music publishers scurried to get symphonies, operas, and string quartets arranged for piano in a duet form so people could bring home and recreate the Mozart opera or Beethoven string quartet they had just heard in the concert halls. This was always in a duet arrangement form – which required considerable skill on the part of amateur pianists – and was as popular in its day as the iPod and iTunes are today.

Whatever the reason, works for piano four hands by Mozart, Schubert, Brahms, Dvořák, Hindemith, Debussy, Ravel, and others are masterpieces in their own right. During my coaching on Schubert’s four hand literature with Alfred Brendel years ago, he told me he considered the “Grand Duo” in C major for piano four hands to be Schubert’s best piano sonata! There is much great four hand literature to discover and experience, and I will make a list of some of my favorites to perform and listen to on our website. For those of you hearing it for the first time today, I’d be interested in your reactions. You may find that the piano sounds larger than it does when played by a solo pianist. If you do, you are correct, since more of the piano is utilized than when played by simply two hands and two feet!

7/10 – The Pipa’s Musical Journey

We were thrilled to welcome pipa virtuoso Yang Wei to Rush Hour Concerts. He has performed worldwide in the biggest venues (Chicago Symphony Center, Ravinia Festival, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, to name a few), and has toured extensively Yo-Yo Ma as part of the Silk Road Project. Many, many thanks, Yang Wei, for being part of Rush Hour!

More than 200 of you came to the concert despite the gusts of wind and sheets of rain. Thank you all so much for braving the extreme conditions – we hope you enjoyed the moon cakes, sesame cookies, wines, the fantastic performance, and fortune cookies!

Yang Wei warming up before the pre-concert reception.

Fanfare Committee‘s gift shop ENSEMBLE is getting bigger and more elaborate by the week! Feel free to contact us for more information about Yang Wei’s recordings with the Silk Road Project, as well as our Rush Hour t-shirts and other recordings by our artists.

Rush Hour Managing Director Julie Hutchison with the Rev. Dr. Joy Edith Rogers, provost of St. James Cathedral, during the pre-concert reception.

Kennon and Bob, still a bit wet from the rain… Thanks for coming!

A great big (not to mention well-deserved!) ovation for Yang Wei. He then surprised everyone with a moving encore of Home on the Range!

Volunteer Mary with Concert Manager Hannah after the concert – fortune cookies, anyone?

Yang Wei meeting friends, colleagues and new fans after the concert.

Deborah Sobol with long-time Rush Hour volunteer Bob Friedli. A successful concert = a happy artistic director!

Thoughts from the Artistic Director: The Composer & the Pipa

As Artistic Director of Rush Hour Concerts, I am always delighted to meet young musicians who share my enthusiasm towards creating and making music. I first met composer Yao Chen this year at the “Rush Hour Tasting” house concert in April. My interview with him on composing, listening to the pipa and writing for Tuesday’s performer, pipa virtuoso Yang Wei, follows below.

Yao Chen is currently completing his doctorate in music composition at the University of Chicago, where he also teaches music courses in the collegiate division. Yao was trained formally at the Xinghai Conservatory of Music and at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, China. He has received commissions from Radio France, the Barnett Family Foundation, the Art Institute of Chicago & Silk Road Chicago Project, and accordionist Luo Han. His works have been performed by the Pacifica Quartet, eighth blackbird, pipa players Yang Wei and Lan WeiWei, double bassist Daxun Zhang, soprano Tony Arnold, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, and Orchestre National de Lorraine in France, to name a few.

1. You were formally trained both in China and the U.S. Is there a different methodology behind music studies in China and here?

My training as a composer in China actually was quite similar to the composition students in the music conservatories here. Harmony, Counterpoint, Form and Orchestration and Piano were the must-pass subjects every composition student needed to go through. At that time, the music schools in China had not developed enough compositional training on Chinese instruments. If you were interested in writing a piece for certain Chinese instrument, you had to get all the technique information from its performer or learn it by yourself. But we did study Chinese music history in which we were exposed to many Chinese traditional music repertoire, such as the traditional tune The Ancient Battlefield for solo pipa, and the erhu solo piece Moon Reflecting in Erquan.

2. You have written a number of compositions involving the pipa. What drew you to this instrument?

Pipa music and its performers! I have long been interested in pipa’s timbres, and I find it fascinating. Using different fingerings, you can obtain different timbres, especially heard in its solo repertoire. In China, I have a wonderful pipa player friend, Lan WeiWei, with whom I started my pipa writing. In Chicago, I have the inspiring Yang Wei, with whom I am able to continue my writing for pipa.

3. In your opinion, what should someone who has never witnessed the pipa listen for?

I bet most people who have never witnessed the pipa would be awe-struck in their first hearing by its sounding and dazzling finger techniques. But the more interesting way to listen is to pay attention to how a pipa player elaborates upon a simple melody by using different techniques. By applying different techniques, a simple melody can present many different facets, temperaments, and stories. I think that is the essence of traditional Chinese music – one note begets two notes, two notes begets three, three begets myriads, and myriads return to the one.

4. Can you explain some of the differences in tonalities between Chinese and what we would know as “Western” classical music?

This could be answered through a very lengthy discourse. But to explain it in abridged version: In Western classical music, you hear tonality as harmonic inclinations and impetus; you sense tonality as logic and consequences; and you are satisfied by tonality as the music progresses harmonically through chord progressions (such as I to IV to V to I). In traditional Chinese music, the tonality is based more on the linear movements in a piece. Once you have the central tone, you can just follow it and see how it floats around through different modes. Different modes bring out different moods for the central tone, and the tonality manifests itself.

5. What are some challenges (or bonuses) in writing for an instrument like the pipa? Did you face any challenges incorporating the pipa into a large ensemble piece (like your dissertation piece), which comprised of mostly Western instruments?

The bonus of writing for the pipa is getting to know this instrument more and more. I don’t set or fit the pipa into an ensemble piece which is comprised of mostly western instruments, since I treat the pipa as I treat any other single instrument of this ensemble: I try to give each of them enough space. The only challenge for me is to write, and to keep writing.

6. What was it like to write for a performer of Yang Wei’s caliber?

Writing for Yang Wei is both challenging and uplifting because he is a very sharp and thought-provoking artist. With a performer like Yang Wei, who has eloquent performing techniques and very broad repertoire and is always willing to try something new, you have to come up with exciting ideas and look at things genuinely and deeply.

7/3 – Global Rhythms

We here at Rush Hour were thrilled to have had saxophonist Ashu as part of our 2007 season! Ashu kindly stepped in for violinist Bernard Zinck, who had an unexpected change in his concert schedule.

In a program titled Global Rhythms that featured the music of Ibert, Villa-Lobos, Piazzolla, and Morricone, Ashu and pianist Kuang-Hao Huang performed with brilliance and passion – which elicited a well-deserved standing ovation from the Rush Hour audience! Also, many thanks to St. James’ Director of Cathedral Music, Bruce Barber, for giving Rush Hour guests a special tour of the mighty St. James organ after the concert!

Thank you to everyone for spending their Independence Day Eve with Rush Hour, and we hope you all enjoyed Ashu and Kuang-Hao’s musical fireworks as a prelude to Chicago’s fireworks celebration.

Ashu meeting guests during Rush Hour’s pre-concert reception.

Rush Hour Concert Manager Hannah and RH volunteer Sarah, awaiting guests.

Ashu and Kuang-Hao in performance.

Ashu meeting fans after the concert. Rush Hour welcomes all guests to meet our artists during the pre-concert reception and after the concert.

Bruce Barber giving a special organ tour in the choir loft after the concert. Please let us know if you would like more opportunities like this to explore the beautiful and historic St. James Cathedral!

Thoughts from the Artistic Director: Behind the Scenes @ Rush Hour

Last week at Rush Hour, we heard a few of Benjamin Britten’s Folksong Arrangements from the British Isles. In preparing the concert, I was reminded of Britten’s lifelong belief that great classical music should be shared with as many types of audiences as possible – in the great cultural centers of the world’s large cities as well as gathering places in smaller communities. As a composer and performer, he lived out this belief throughout his life. I think Ben Britten would have liked Rush Hour and the role its community plays in presenting Great Music for Busy Lives.

The thought, care and time of a great many people go into producing these weekly concert events. As we enter our second month of this season, I would like to introduce you to some of them. Hannah, a student at the University of Chicago, is our concert manager. She oversees the first half of each week’s event – the reception, its food, its thematic presentation and its core of volunteers. She shops for, delivers and prepares all the reception food and coordinates a roster of generous weekly volunteers. She also manages the distribution of Rush Hour’s 20,000 season brochures across the city throughout the summer.

Hannah greeting Rush Hour guest Yao Chen, who happened to be her professor at the University of Chicago.

Jules, a Northwestern University graduate, is our webmaster, making sure our website and blog are updated weekly with all the audience enhancement information for which Rush Hour has become well-known. The website and blog introduce people to Rush Hour, provide pre-concert notes for those who want to arrive “informed,” and offer the chance to extend participation in each week’s events for those who want to further broaden their weekly Rush Hour experience. Jules makes a point of providing wonderful links to subjects of interest referred to in the writings of myself and other contributors to our website.

Tara, a recent University of Chicago graduate, produces the weekly concert programs, masterfully finding a way to include all the information you have come to expect in a four-page format. Tara and Jules also do support work on our database and in our development efforts – that all-important, “behind the scenes” work so directly linked to our ability to bring you these concerts free of charge.

In addition, we have a impressive group of weekly volunteers without whom Rush Hour would simply not be possible. By the end of today’s concert, our food prep and host team will have served 100 pounds of fruit. Jackie Lee King and his drink table team will have poured 50 bottles of wine and juices. Our ushers, headed by Chuck Hamilton, Robert Friedli and Marion Faldet, will have helped more than 1,500 people to their seats, handing out just as many programs. Our artists will have transformed tens of thousands of “notes” into music, and, 134 of you will have made financial contributions to keep these weekly musical gatherings free and open to all.

This is the work of a great many people who understand the magic of a community working together. I thank all of you who are part of Rush Hour’s “behind the scenes” support and I encourage any of you who would like to join this great group of people to talk to any of us about how to do so. You can speak to any staff member after the concert, or contact us via phone or email.

Lucile, dedicated and long-time Rush Hour usher!

Two final points for this week: first, our program change today is due to an unexpected change in violinist Bernard Zinck’s schedule. We are delighted to welcome the brilliant saxophonist, Ashu, who joins pianist Kuang-Hao Huang in our Global Rhythms program.

Second, St. James’ Director of Cathedral Music, Bruce Barber, has graciously offered to give any interested or curious folk a “tour” of the mighty St. James organ (with all its bells and whistles!) after today’s program. The organ has a fascinating history in the already fascinating history of this cathedral. If you are interested, please meet Bruce in the choir loft after today’s concert.