MUSIC BOX
September 25, 2022
Chris Fenstermaker, piano
Jubal Joslyn, tenor
Cathryn Wilkinson, organ
Prelude:
Consolation in D-Flat Major……Franz Liszt
Clair de Lune (Moonlight)……Claude Debussy
Nocturno……Edvard Grieg
Offertory:
Prelude in G-Sharp Minor……Sergei Rachmaninoff
Postlude:
Prelude in C Major, No. 1 from The Well-Tempered Klavier, Book 1……J. S. Bach
Prelude in C Minor from 18 Little Preludes……J. S. Bach
About the Music
Today’s music features the piano as a solo concert instrument, compared to the earlier history of keyboards as accompaniment for other musicians. In 18th century Germany, Bach upended the keyboard tradition by publishing The Well-Tempered Klavier. These two monumental volumes of solo preludes and fugues would have been performed in Bach’s day on the harpsichord, an instrument frequently found in homes of the upper class.
The construction of the piano we know today, developed after the time of Bach. This new keyboard appealed to performers because of the ability to play both very softly and loudly, named in Italian the pianoforte. The increasing expressive range of 19th-century pianos led composers and performers to collaborate in an explosion of solo piano works, represented this morning by Franz Liszt from Hungary and Edvard Grieg from Norway. Later, in the 20th century, Claude Debussy in France and Sergei Rachmaninoff in Russia carried the piano to new expressive heights with even more dramatic and technically challenging compositions.
About the Guest Artist
Chris Fenstermaker is a senior at Pacific Grove High School. His piano studies began at age 9 1/2 with Barbara Ruzicka. He also plays cello with the Youth Music Monterey orchestra and chamber groups. In his free time he loves to surf at Spanish Bay.
Signed, Cathryn Wilkinson
