Griffes: Fantasy Pieces, Op. 6: III. Scherzo (James Chang, Senior Recital 1 of 11)

Charles Tomlinson Griffes
Fantasy Pieces, Op. 6
III. Scherzo

SPEECH TRANSCRIPT
Hello everyone, welcome to my recital. Thank you all very much for coming. I hope you'll enjoy tonight's program. I'm hoping to establish a sort of a loose atmosphere, because, too often, we associate classical music with snooty old people and uptight traditionalism, and that's just not good, because we don't absorb the music freely, and that's this kind of atmosphere, which [I want to] create; a freer atmosphere. So, feel free to ask any questions if you have any; we'll try to make this as interactive as possible. [But] we can't be extremely loose, so... please turn off your cell phones, and please try to hold your applause [un]til the end of the piece, and for the courtesy of the audience, please remain as silent as possible.

The piece I just played was Scherzo, by Charles Griffes. [It] was the 3rd of his Fantasy Pieces. Griffes was a very under-appreciated composer, and this is very unfair; he was a brilliant composer and a brilliant orchestrator. The reason he's not famous is because, (1) He died just before his career took off, (2) His publisher refused to publish his works because they were too "new," (3) Some of his early works were in German, and this was not good, because it was World War I, and no one liked the Germans. And Griffes wrote of that piece:
"From the palace of Enchantment there issued into the night sounds of unearthly revelry. Troops of genii and other fantastic spirits danced grotesquely to a music now weird and mysterious, now wild and joyous."
Are there any questions?

AUDIENCE MEMBER: Is there any meaning for you to put on Chinese custom [clothes]?
JAMES: because I'm Chinese! [Laughter] This was a gift from my aunt, and I thought this was best piece of clothing I have, next to--
AUDIENCE MEMBER: Yes, I think so
JAMES: --thank you--next to a tuxedo, but that's too traditional. Remember, we're trying to eschew with the uptight traditionalism. And, it's also less restricting.
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James Chang's Personal Senior Recital
May 30, 2010, 7 PM, Friday Musicale Auditorium, Jacksonville, FL
Video 1 of 11

Category:

Music

Tags:

• griffes
• fantasy
• pieces
• scherzo
• james
• chang
• piano
• senior
• recital
• music
• classical
• impressionism
• impressionistic
• impressionist
• modern
• solo
• live

[mrbrianmccarthy]

James,you need to slow down a bit.Youre missing a lot of the drama in these pieces by rushing thru them.Your execution in the scales is suffering because youre taking the tempo too fast. 

[miinibee]

This is my favorite piece, fell in love with it and the person who played it the first time I heard it