Karim Said, piano

Anton Webern: Variations for piano, Op.27
Arnold Schoenberg: Piece for piano, Op.33a
Arnold Schoenberg: Piece for piano, Op.33b
John Cage: The Perilous Night
Stefan Wolpe: 3 Pieces for youngsters for piano
Roberto Gerhard: 3 Impromptus for piano
Pierre Boulez: Notations I - XII for piano

By the middle of the 20th century Schoenberg's radical legacy had sparked myriad reactions from composers of the next generation.

Beginning with the concentrated, edgy Variations by Webern and two pieces by Schoenberg himself, Karim Said has also chosen for this final recital in his series short works by five composers who each took Schoenberg's influence on board in a different way.

John Cage's The Perilous Night is a haunting musical meditation on lost love. The piano is 'prepared' to create the illusion of percussion and pizzicato. Stefan Wolpe's Three Pieces for Youngsters offers a taste of this radical Modernist pioneer's colourful creations. The Spanish composer Roberto Gerhard's Three Impromptus hold echoes of Andalusian and Catalan music. And Pierre Boulez rose to the greatest prominence among all the advocates of 12-note music - his 12 Notations, written when he was 20, display dazzling precocity.

Karim Said piano
Sara Mohr-Pietsch presenter