Stephen Beville "Musical Painters" Piano Recital St Margaret's Church Topsham Sunday 29 September 2019 Press Release from Stephen Beville

Musical Painters

(An afternoon of Piano Music inspired by Painter and Picture)

STEPHEN BEVILLE - PIANO

There have always existed relationships between music and the picture . . .

Raffaello Sanzio da Rubino
"Lo Sposalizio"

From the perspective of composers, these relationships intensified on a personal level in the 19th century, in part, due to new-found, and often hard-won, social emancipation and freedoms of expression. For we are indebted to that adventurous musical pioneer and visionary, Franz Liszt, for providing a foundation and template for further explorations in this recital.

Michaelangelo
"Il Pensieroso"

Although the most celebrated example of this musico-pictorial relationship is perhaps Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition it was felt necessary for reasons of length and space to omit this 'elephant in the room'. However, the connection between music and the visual arts, especially painting, is made palpable and sometimes explicit - albeit in different ways - in some of the works being presented in this programme.

Liszt's example - as illustrated by his own pieces "Sposalizio" (Marriage) and "Il Pensieroso" (The Thinker) from his 'Annees de Pelerinage', Book II (Italy) are only our point of departure.

Ben Nicholson
"Still Life" 1932

And, whilst we may begin with a direct, tangible relationship, musical response or expression clearly related to or inspired by specific artworks (be they by Raphael or Michelangelo), we are confronted with increasing 'abstractions' in the cycles of miniatures by Grieg and Prokofiev.

Piet Mondrian
"New York City I" 1942

Here, any obvious analogies with the visual arts have been obscured save for their titles; respectively "Poetic Tone Pictures" and "Visions Fugitives". Perhaps they may be regarded thus as 'fantasy' paintings, fleeting escapades, musical ditties of their composer's imaginations.

For my own responses to two 'abstract' 20th century painters, both the example of their lives and work coalesce to form small-scale musical tributes – "Still Life" for Ben Nicholson and Piet Mondrian in "New York", prefigured by an introduction. Finally Britten returns us to the world outside with quasi-picture-postcard evocations from his Holiday Diary.

Piano: Stephen Beville

Stephen Beville

St. Margarets Church Topsham

Sunday 29 September 3:30 pm
MUSICAL PAINTERS
Piano: Stephen Beville
Franz Liszt: "Années de Pèlerinage" (Years of Pilgrimage)
"Deuxième Année: Italie" (Second Year: Italy)1 "Sposalizio" (Marriage)
Inspired by the oil painting "Marriage of the Virgin"
Chiesa di San Francesco, Città di Castello
Raffaello Sanzio da Rubino (Raphael) 1504
2 "Il Pensieroso" (The Thinker)
Inspired by the marble sculpture "Il Pensieroso"

Raffaello Sanzio da Rubino
"Lo Sposalizio"

Tomb of  Lorenzo de Medici (Duke of Urbino)
Michaelangelo di Lodovico Vuonarroti Simoni 1524-34
Edvard Grieg: "Poetic Tone Pictures" Op 3
Sergei Prokofiev : "Visions Fugitives" Op 22
Stephen Beville: "Two Painters"
(Piet Mondrian and Ben Nicholson)
Benjamin Britten: Holiday Diary, Op 5
Refreshments available during interval.

Tickets: £12 at the door (advance £10)

Topsham Bookshop: 01392 877895

Online booking: TicketSource