Summery Piano

 

Piano playing knows no season. However, any season has more flavor when savored by playing a seasonal piano piece. Here are ten evocative summery pieces to enjoy.

Benjamin Britten: Holiday Diary. An evocative seaside holiday

Claude Debussy. “Voiles” from Preludes Book 1. A sensory musical expression of breezy sails

Gabriel Fauré. Three Songs, Opus 18 No. 1 “Nell.”: an art song with the sun as a recurring symbol

Edvard Grieg. Lyric Pieces, Book 10 Opus 71, No. 2 “Summer Evening”: A quick sketch of a tranquil Norwegian summer evening

Ernest Moeran. Summer Valley: A pastoral sense of Britain and Ireland

Francis Poulenc. Napoli: A three-movement suite that captures the spirit of an Italian summer evening

Ned Rorem. End of Summer: A chamber piece for piano, clarinet and violin that expresses the sensitivity of summer’s end

William Grant Still. “Summerland”: an almost mesmerizing summer day on the plains

Joseph Suk. A Summer’s Tale, Opus 29: a tone poem of a moody summer day

Pyotr Tchaikovsky. “June,” Barcarolle from The Seasons: sixth of a 12-movement piano piece;it depicts a gondola ride

Bringing in Summer on a Tune

 

Summer is a great time to travel, and Tomoko has enjoyed traveling since she was a young woman. Now with the pandemic, it is harder to travel, but Tomoko can enjoy summer travel through the piano pieces she enjoys performing. Many composers of those pieces were inspired by their own travels and sense of place. Here is a sampling to explore.

Probably one of the first thematic piano pieces that might come to mind is George Gershwin’s “Summertime,” which was written for his opera Porgy and Bess. Its tone and pacing reflect a lazy, jazzy afternoon in the South.

Benjamin Britten’s four-part suite of piano pieces, “Ravel’s “Mirrors” (Op. 5), reflects his boyhood pre-war memories of the British seaside where he lived. The lively melody captures summer holiday life with a celebratory movement, stormy sailing, and nighttime peacefulness.  

Claude Debussy’s prelude “Voiles (Veils or Sails)” reminds one of summer breezes, either on land or sea. Its tonality ranges from veiled mystery to bright open sails.

Franz Liszt’s  three-suite set “Années de Pelerinage (Pilgrimage Years)” was inspired by his visits to the Swiss Alps. The piece paints a Romantic picture of flora and fauna as well as still and running water.

Ernest Moeran’s pastoral “Summer Valley” refers to British and Irish landscapes. While he himself lived a creative and lively existence at that time, this composition reflects a more peaceful mood.

Maurice Ravel’s “Mirrors” evokes the impressionistic sound of the ocean, especially movement #3 “A boat on the Ocean.” It is considered one of his three water-themed masterpieces.

Francis Poulenc’s three-movement suite “Napoli” was written during his visit to Italy. The piece certainly plays an homage to Italian barcarolle and caprice. The music’s color mirrors summer streets and shores of Naples.

Whatever the summer mood, there's likely to be a summer piano piece to celebrate summer, no matter where one is. 

‘Tis the Season for Tchaikovsky

It’s the beginning of June and soon summer begins. In the northern hemisphere, June is a lovely time to be outside. Tomoko herself enjoys gardening outside. She sees the garden as a metaphor for musicians; both take much work and much patience. “Labor is labor,” says Tomoko.

On her CD album “Touria,” Tomoko performs Tchaikowsky’s “June, the Seasons,” Opus 37b in g minor, composed in 1876. This piece is one of twelve short character pieces, reflecting the spirit of each month in Russia. “The Seasons” was commissioned by the St. Petersburg music magazine Nouvelist editor, the idea being that each monthly issue publish one month’s piece. Tchaikowsky was finishing his first ballet, “Swan Lake,” while her was composing these pieces – mainly to supplement his income. Nevertheless, each piece is a lovely little melodic masterpiece.

“June,” which is in the tradition of the traditional folk song barcarolle genre, has been very popular and arranged for a variety of musical instruments. “June” recall’s Mendelssohn’s Venetian gondola songs, but Tchaikowsky’s develops a more polyphonic theme. Furthermore, “June” has a more melancholy tone that reflects Russian sensibility. The lyrics that accompany “June” were written by poet Aleskey Pleshcheyev:

Let us go to the shore;

there the waves will kiss our feet.

With mysterious sadness

the stars will shine down on us.

Like Marin county where Tomoko resides, which experiences June gloom of foggy mornings that burn off by the afternoon, Tchkowsky’s “June” starts slowly and subdued, then opens up broadly for a moment like clouds parting for the sun, only to go back to its original tone and ending resolution of the day. It is no wonder that Tomoko chose this piece to perform.