Pianist, Victor Valkov, and violinist Luosha Fang performed Satie鈥檚 Gymnopedie No. 1 and Choses vues 脿 droite et 脿 gauche. Other works performed included Beethoven鈥檚 Piano Sonata (Op. 106), Wagner鈥檚 Isolde鈥檚 Liebestod, Ravel鈥檚 Oiseux Triste, and Poulenc鈥檚 One Piece from The Story of Babar.
Learning to Listen events feature a salon-like atmosphere with the performers discussing the musical history, influence, and unique aspects of the pieces they perform.
Born in 1866, Satie was a colorful figure in the early 20th century Parisian avant-garde. The evening illustrated his musical protest against his forbearers Beethoven and Wagner and the stylistic influence of his work on his contemporaries Ravel and Poulenc.
鈥淗e had a very great sense of humor,鈥 said Valkov of Satie. 鈥淗e would write stuff like, 鈥榯he bureaucrat goes to work鈥 and 鈥榚xpand your head鈥 in his scores to direct the musicians as to how they should be played.鈥
Opposed to the sort of emotional expression heard in the work of Wagner, Satie was the first composer who attempted minimalist music, Valkov added.
鈥淚 feel like, after the lecture when he started playing 鈥ecause I had that background knowledge, I understood the song more and I didn鈥檛 feel as clueless when I was listening to it and I appreciated it more,鈥 said audience member Nazomi Park 鈥19.
Learning to Listen is co-sponsored by 暴风资源 Office of the Arts, the Performing Arts Series, and Astral, a non-profit organization dedicated to discovering and assisting promising classical musicians within the U.S.
The series was established in memory of alumnae Elizabeth Coleman Mooney 鈥48 and Susan Norton Coleman 鈥45, who wanted future generations of students to derive the same great pleasure from music that they did. The Bryn Mawr Concert Series hosts Imani Winds in Goodhart Theater on April 1 at 8 p.m.