Tamami Honma, Piano Faculty Recital Program

Program Notes

Prelude and Fugue in E-flat Minor by Johann Sebastian Bach

Johann Sebastian Bach's The Well-Tempered Clavier is a collection of 48 preludes and fugues, two in each of the 24 major and minor keys. Composed around 1722, the collection is often cited as one of the most significant works in classical music, exemplified by the 19th century pianist and conductor, Hans von Bülow, who described it as the Old Testament of the keyboard (with Beethoven's Piano Sonatas being the New Testament). Part of its significance lay in the fact that it provided a groundbreaking demonstration that the keyboard could be tuned ("well-tempered") to allow composition in every single key. The Prelude and Fugue in E-flat Minor (BWV 853) is considered one of the most profound and emotionally powerful pairs in the entire collection.

Piano Sonata in C Major, Op 53 'Waldstein' by Ludwig van Beethoven

The "Waldstein" Sonata is a monumental work from Beethoven's "Middle Period," written around 1804—the same productive time that yielded his Symphony No. 3, Eroica. It is dedicated to his patron, Count Ferdinand Ernst Gabriel von Waldstein, a key early supporter who famously told Beethoven, "You shall receive the spirit of Mozart from the hands of Haydn." Beethoven had recently acquired a new Érard piano with an extended keyboard range when he composed this work. Fittingly, he not only used the full range and power of the contemporary instrument but pushed the boundaries of piano sonata form with a work that demanded unprecedented virtuosity.

Ballade No. 4 in F Minor, Op. 52 by Frédéric Chopin

Chopin's Fourth Ballade, composed between 1842 and 1843, is widely considered the peak of his ballade form and one of the greatest compositions in the entire piano repertoire. The ballade is a unique form pioneered by Chopin, often said to be inspired by the poetic narratives of Polish poet Adam Mickiewicz. This work is less about a single story and more about a journey of the soul. It begins with a tender, hesitant theme that serves as a quiet foundation, but the music quickly blossoms into a breathtaking sequence of moods — lyricism, introspection, melancholy, and passionate drama — all unified by a sophisticated web of counterpoint and constantly evolving variations. The piece culminates in a coda that is arguably the most virtuosic and emotionally devastating climax Chopin ever wrote, ending the narrative with a sense of profound tragedy and finality. The English pianist John Ogdon described it as "the most exalted, intense and sublimely powerful of all Chopin's compositions... It is unbelievable that it lasts only twelve minutes, for it contains the experience of a lifetime.

Gaspard de la Nuit by Maurice Ravel

Inspired by the bizarre and macabre prose poems of Aloysius Bertrand, Gaspard de la nuit is a set of three tone poems for piano, each based on one of Bertrand's poems. The title, which translates roughly to "Treasurer of the Night", comes from a medieval French name for a kind of demonic or grotesque figure, who presides over the horrors and mysteries of the night. Bertrand, introduced his collection by attributing them to a mysterious old man he met in a park who lent him the book. When Bertand tries to return the volume to its owner the next day, he is uable to locate him and he asks where the elusive M. Gaspard might be. The reply comes: 'He is in hell, unless he is out on his travels.' Ravel’s music perfectly captures the strange, fantastical, and sometimes terrifying imagery of Bertrand's Gothic vision, utilizing revolutionary piano textures to evoke sounds never before heard on the instrument.

Three poems from Gaspard de la Nuit: Fantaisies á la manière de Rembrandt et de Callot* written by the devil (Gaspard de la Nuit) and published by Aloysius Bertrand in 1842, translated by Greg Anderson. Each of the poems is introduced by a short literary quotation.

Ondine (Water-Sprite)

…I thought I heard a vague harmony enchant my
slumber and, near me, radiating, a identical murmur
like the interrupted songs of a sad and tender voice.
– C. Brugnot (The Two Spirits)

"Listen! Listen! Do you know what you hear?
It is I, Ondine, spirit of the water,
who brushes these drops,
The water on the resonant panes of your windows,
lit by the gloomy rays of the moon.
And here, in a gown of watered silk,
gazing from my chateau terrace,
I contemplate the beautiful starry night
and the restless sleeping lake.

"The waves are my sisters, swimming the paths
which wander towards my palace…
The walls are at the bottom of the lake,
in a fluid structure of earth and fire and air.

"Listen! Listen! Do you know what you hear?
My father strikes the water with an alder branch,
My sisters caress the grass with arms of white foam,
lift the water lilies, move the rushes,
and tease the bearded willow which casts its line,
baited with leaves, into the darting water."

When she had breathed her song, she begged me –
begged me – to put her ring on my finger;
to be her husband and sink with her down –
down to her drowned palace
and be king of all the lakes.

I told her I loved a mortal woman.

Abashed and vexed, she dissolved into tears and
laughter;
vanished in a scatter of rain –
white streams across the dark night
of my window.

Le Gibet (The Gallows)

What do I see stirring around those gallows?
—Faust

What is it – this uneasy sound in the dusk?
Is it the screech of the north wind,
or does the hanged man on the gallows let out a
sigh?

Is it a cricket who sings lurking in the moss and ivy
which covers the forest floor out of pity?

Is it some fly hunting raw flesh and sounding its horn
around those ears which are deaf to the fanfare?

Is it the scarab beetle in its uneven flight
picking a blood-soaked hair from the scalp?

Or then, is it the spider who embroiders a muslin tie –
a shroud for the broken neck?

It is the bell ringing by the walls of a city below the
horizon
and the carcass of a hanged man reddened by the
setting sun.

Scarbo (The Gremlin)

He looked under the bed, in the fireplace, in the chest:
nobody. He could not understand where he had
entered or how he had escaped.
—Hoffmann (Nighttime stories)

I have heard him again and again
and seen him too! Scarbo the gremlin.
He comes in the dead of the night,
when the moon glitters in the sky like a silver shield
on an azure banner strewn with golden bees.

I have heard his laugh boom from the shadow,
and his fingernails grate on the silk of my bed
curtains!

I have seen him drop from the ceiling
pirouette on one foot and roll across the floor
Like the spindle of a spinning wheel
when a dark witch weaves!

And I think he had vanished? No. At such times
the gremlin would rise between me and the moon
As high and narrow as a gothic steeple –
a golden bell swaying like his pointed cap!

But then, his body would change, became as blue
and translucent as the wax of a taper,
his face as pale as candle grease –
and suddenly he would be extinguished.

Program Notes for Danzas Argentinas, Op 2, Nos 1-3 by Alberto Ginastera

Alberto Ginastera is one of the most important Argentine composers of the 20th century - among his most famous students is Ástor Piazzolla who blazed a trail with his "nuevo tango" works. However, Ginastera's style was quite distinct and the Danzas Argentinas, composed in 1937, is an early work that immediately established his unique voice. These three pieces are vibrant examples of his "Objective Nationalism" period, where he drew directly from Argentine folk music, rhythms, and imagery to create a sophisticated, modern soundscape.

I. Danza del viejo boyero (Dance of the Old Herdsman) This dance is characterized by a feeling of vast open space, depicting the solitary life of the Argentine herdsman (boyero). It is notable for its use of polymeter (two or more simultaneous meters), giving the rhythm a rugged, shifting quality that suggests the herdsman's simple, unsteady gait and the natural landscape.

II. Danza de la moza donosa (Dance of the Graceful Girl) A complete contrast to the first, this is a lyrical and tender piece. It captures the gentle charm and refined grace of a young Argentine woman. Ginastera employs a beautiful, singing melody over a delicate accompaniment, evoking the light and elegant movements of a traditional dance, full of warmth and romance.

III. Danza del gaucho matrero (Dance of the Outlaw Cowboy) The finale is a wild, explosive toccata that celebrates the gaucho matrero (the outlaw cowboy). It is characterized by driving, aggressive rhythms and powerful chords. Ginastera often uses the piano to imitate the strumming and percussion of folk instruments. The energy is relentless, ending the set with a brilliant flourish that channels the untamed, fierce spirit of the Argentine pampas (grasslands).

Faculty Recital Series

Santa Clara University Department of Music

Faculty Recital Series 2025-2026

Program