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Feeling tired? Need to unwind? Then how about some gentle, soothing piano music? Welcome to the Episode 10 of the Fourth Series in the Relaxing Piano Playlist! In this very special episode, I perform for you music by Jean Louis Nicodé, Dora Pejacevic, Edward MacDowell and Amy Beach. I also feature an exclusive addition of a brand new piece by a current contemporary London based composer, Nickie Hart, as well as a very special piece from Ukrainian composer Mykola Lysenko. To finish I also perform Movement 2 from Piano Concerto in A minor Op.16 by Edvard Grieg.
00:30 - James Quinn
Hello and welcome to what is our last episode, Episode 10 of Series 4, in the Relaxing Piano Playlist, with your host James Quinn here at the piano, thank you very much for joining me. In this episode, you’re going to hear a short number of pieces featuring a wide range of composers, specifically from the Romantic period. We will also have another slow movement from a piano concerto later to follow.
The first piece is from one of the first new composers added to the series. In this case, you will hear a short work by the Prussian Romantic composer Jean Louis Nicodé. He was first taught piano from his father and would study at the New Academy of Music in Berlin and later became professor at the Royal Conservatory in Dresden. To give you a sample of his musical style, the piece that you will hear is called “The First Meeting” which comes from his cycle of 10 Poems which he published as Opus 22.
The second piece you will hear is from another new woman composer, from Croatia by the name of Dora Pejacevic. Born as a Countess in an aristocratic family, she stepped away to forge her own career as a composer. Due to the recent undertaking of discovering her music 100 years after her death in 1923, her works are finally receiving the overdue recognition with this piece as one of several wonderful compositions. To allow us to hear her musical voice, the piece that you will hear is a standalone work called Remembrance, which she published as Op.24.
We then return to the American composer Edward MacDowell for our next piece, where you will hear a movement from one of his piano miniatures, Fireside Tales Op.61 which he wrote between 1901-02. From this you hear the final movement entitled “By Smouldering Embers”
Afterwards, we revisit the American woman composer Amy Beach, where you will hear a short standalone piece, entitled By the Still Waters, which she published as Op.114.
We also feature an exclusive new premiere from the London based composer, Nickie Hart, which happens to be released this Friday the 19th January, and you will hear her new solo piano composition entitled Lost in Thoughts. You can see more of her music at her range of websites including Instagram, Facebook Youtube, and at www.nickiehartmusic.com
To finish this section we have a special piece from a new composer which takes in the form of the Romantic Ukrainian composer, Mykola Lysenko. Regarded as the central figure of Ukrainian musi c, it was him who famously set music to a poem which would later become the spiritual Anthem for the country called “Prayer for Ukraine”. He wold later be the namesake of both an International Music competition and a the Lysenko Music School. To give you an exciting opportunity to hear one of his pieces for the first time, the piece you will hear is simply called Romance.
We then have another slow movement from a piano concerto to finish this episode and this current series. On this occasion you will hear the second movement set to the speed of Adagio from Piano Concerto in A minor Op.16 by Edvard Grieg. He composed this in 1865 when he was only 24 years old, and had taken inspiration from Schumann’s Piano Concerto which was also in the same key. The second movement is set in what’s known as Ternary form and is set in the unusual key of D Flat Major. In a concert performance, without too much of a break, the second movement promptly leads on into the final movement.
So to recap, here is the order just once more: The First Meeting from the Ten Poems Op.22 by Jean Louis Nicodé, Remembrance Op.24 by Dora Pejacevic, By Smouldering Embers by Edward MacDowell, By the Still Waters Op.114 by Amy Beach, Lost in Thought by Nickie Hart, Romance by Mykola Lysenko, and finally the second movement from Piano Concerto in A minor Op.16 by Edvard Grieg.
So sit back, relax, and I hope that you all enjoy the music. Thank you.
00:34:53
That brings us to the end of this current series of the Relaxing Piano Playlist, I hope you enjoyed all the music throughout with a wide range of composers and styles with a blend of both familiar favourites and many new composers added throughout the series.
For the moment, I will be giving myself a well earned break for a bit as I have a very important recital which I’m giving in two months time towards the end of March, which I will hope to have up on my YouTube channel, If you’re interested in seeing me play. So don’t be too alarmed that I will be absent during this time, as I really want to give myself plenty of time to have my programme fully mastered for my big day.
To put your minds at ease, I can definitely say that I will be returning for a fifth series in April. There will be a podcast update nearer the time, and you’ll be able to hear when the exact date of Series 5 Episode 1 will be available. I will have these episodes released normally every 2 weeks as usual.
Very soon I will be premiering Series 1 as a web-series on my YouTube channel, and I will let you know the date when the first episode drops. During the summer of last year I also re-recorded Series 2 with new and improved audio which will be re-released into the existing episodes over the coming couple of months to benefit the improved experience for you.
All that’s left for me to say is just one very big special thank you to all of you once again, and without your very generous support, this podcast will never have been as successful as it has to this present day. If you did want to know I do have some extraordinary news to relay to you, that currently with all of the episodes combined so far, this podcast has now been downloaded over 84,000 times, which to me is just incredible and the prospect of one day seeing the magic number of 100,000 all the more possible. This is due to your extraordinary and wonderful support. By choosing this podcast, listening to it and enjoying it in your own way, I can definitely assure you, this really does mean so much to me, so I owe all of this to every single one of you.
I will now bid you all a very fond farewell for now, and Series 5 will be released soon in April, and I will announce when Episode 1 will appear once I have a date confirmed. So until then, we will meet again.
This has been the Relaxing Piano Playlist with James Quinn. Thank you very much for listening, take very good care of yourselves and each other. Good bye for now.