ISSUED: 22 September 2021
MEDIA CONTACT: Dana Costa
SHEPHERDSTOWN, WV — Shepherd University Associate Professor of Music, Dr. Yu-Hsuan Liao, will present a Shepherd Salon Series seminar on composer George Crumb’s “Eine Kleine Mitternachtmusik” on Wednesday, September 29, at 1:10 p.m. in the Frank Center’s W. H. Shipley Recital Hall. The event is free and open to the public.
In 2001, pianist Emanuele Arciuli commissioned a group of composers to write variations based on jazz musician Thelonius Monk’s classic “Round Midnight.” George Crumb expanded the project into an entire suite. Though the work opens and closes with literal statements of Monk’s tune, from the very beginning the music is the work of Crumb with its strummed strings, full usage of resonant inside the piano, typically harmonic language, and his hallmark in musical quotations. Crumb threw in quotes from Debussy’s “Golliwog’s Cakewalk,” Wagner’s “Tristan,” and “Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks” by Richard Strauss. The work fuses jazz and Monk’s themes with Crumb’s harmonic language, but also interacts with European and American idioms and motifs.
Liao plans to present this lecture-recital virtually at the World Piano Conference in October 2021.
Those attending events in person will be required to wear a face covering indoors and follow Shepherd’s current COVID-19 policies. Before attending this or any event on campus, visit our COVID-19 information page to learn what policies are in effect.
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