Personal Connections and Memorials

Description

Piano faculty member Hugh Hinton builds a program around pieces of the 20th and 21st centuries that feature personal connections or dedications to friends, colleagues, and partners. John Cage wrote The Seasons as a dance score for Merce Cunningham, his partner. Morton Feldman titled many of his works for the personal friends he dedicated them to, and Hugh will perform the Piano Piece (To Philip Guston). Toru Takemitsu’s piece Rain Tree Sketch II: In Memoriam Olivier Messiaen includes aspects of Messiaen’s personal musical style. Kurtag’s Jatekok pieces are written as memorials to deceased friends or reflect aspects of their personality that he inscribes in music.