Quei-Lih Chen at the Piano
Program note by Quei-Lih Chen

I thought it would be interesting to program both Schumann's Kinderszenen (Scenes from Childhood) and Hsiao's Memories of Home suites in one recital because they are both reminiscences of childhood and homeland; similar in scope and sentiment, yet they exhibit the contrast between the east and west. Beethoven's Appassionata sonata and Chopin's ballades are among the most important piano works in the piano literature; those pieces provide more substance and balance to the program.

Robert Schumann: Kinderszenen (Scenes from Childhood) for piano, Op. 15 (1838)

The 13 pieces that constitute Robert Schumann's Kinderszenen (Scenes from Childhood) for piano have been played around the world by virtuosi and amateurs alike since their creation. These charming yet substantial miniatures exhibit Schumann's musical imagination at the peak of its poetic clarity. The descriptive titles, which are attached to each piece, were added as an afterthought in order to provide subtle suggestions to the player. They are very general and not evocations of sounds or sights, but rather of moods and feelings. Although the subject matter deals with the world of children, the imaginative works are not necessarily intended by the composer for only young listeners or performers. Instead, the Kinderszenen are a tribute to the universal memories and feelings of childhood from a nostalgic adult perspective. Each piece is touched with refinement and tenderness. Schumann wrote to Clara, with whom he was deeply in love at that time and was soon to become his wife over the objections of her overbearing father, "these scenes are peaceful, tender and happy, like our future…you will enjoy them." Among the set, it is the slower, dreamier pieces such as the first "Von fremden Ländern und Menschen" (About Foreign Lands and Peoples), the seventh "Träumerie" (Dreaming) and the twelfth "Kind im Einschlummern" (Child Falling Asleep) that have proven the most popular.

Ludwig Van Beethoven: Piano Sonata No.23 in F minor, Op.57, "Appassionata"

The contrasts of turbulence and serenity, the strength and scope of the structure, the flashes of color and the virtuosic power - all combine to produce the Appassionata sonata, a work of drama and burning passion. The Appassionata was not named by the composer, but was so labeled in 1838 by the publisher for a four-hand arrangement of the work. The Sonata was composed in 1804, a year after Beethoven came to grips with his deafness, and the sonata clearly reflects the emotional turmoil he felt during its composition. It is often viewed as the solitary journey of a hero beset by adversity. But his genius depended on an ability to fight his own physical limitations, to make them irrelevant to his art. He once said to a friend - "man is fragile, art is without limits."
The Appassionata is in three movements, with both stormy outer movements in sonata form, and the serene middle movement in a theme and variations. The serenity of the movement is interrupted by a brief moment of unresolved tension at the final cadence; then without pause, the restless final movement follows with its nonstop sixteenth-note figuration, and ends in a coda of utter despair.

Tyzen Hsiao: Memories of Home, Suite for piano No.1; Toccata for Piano, Op.58

Like Schumann, Tyzen Hsiao is at his very best in expressive, short character pieces. In these pieces, his harmonic language is rich and colorful, and his ability to capture the essence of emotional expression is often breathtaking. One of the prominent characteristics of Hsiao's compositions is their nationalist traits, strongly associated with his native Taiwanese tradition. His adoption of Taiwanese folk elements and integrating them with aspects of Western music's tradition of classicism, romanticism and modernism creates a style that is unique of Hsiao. He once said "My music has a certain style, it's hard to indicate whether it's melody, harmony, or rhythm. I think the reason is that I make use of the characteristics of Taiwanese music."
Memories of Home Piano Suite No. 1, consisting of six pieces, makes an unusual attractive suite. The music depicts the spirit of Taiwanese people and is filled with Hsiao's intense love and deep nostalgia for his homeland.
In the Toccata for the Piano, written in 1995, Hsiao skillfully incorporates compositional technique of modernism into the music, and diatonic, chromatic, whole-tone and Eastern pentatonic elements are freely intermixed. Its motoric drive and atmospheric lyricism makes this virtuoso work an effective piece.

Frederic Chopin: Ballade No.2 in F major, Op. 38
Frederic Chopin: Ballade No.1 in G minor, Op.23

Chopin was the first composer to adopt the concept of narrative poetic form 'ballad' to piano music namely 'ballade'. Chopin composed his four ballades during his mature stage after he left his homeland, Poland. The ballades are considered the finest of Chopin's creations and among the most representative of romantic music.
Though Chopin was somewhat inspired by the stories of his native Poland and particularly the poems of Adam Mickiewicz, Chopin's ballades are pure music in their finest forms without any suggestive narration. Many pianists found the poetic interpretation of these ballades a real challenge once they have mastered the technical difficulty.
Chopin dedicated his second ballade (Op.38) to Robert Schumann, in return for Schumann's dedication of Kreisleriana (Op. 16) to Chopin. The dramatic interest of this ballade derives from the extreme contrast between an opening dreamy, barcarole-like theme and a stormy section. It opens with a slow and magical episode that later drifts away into a dreamy repose before turning into a tempest, presto con fuoco - a wild, magnificent outburst. In the words of composer Alan Rawsthorne - at the end of the coda, the andantino theme becomes "a whispered reminder of the very opening," which "vibrates in the memory."
The first ballade (Op.23) was begun in 1831, during Chopin's early days in Paris, when he was about twenty-years old, and was finished in 1835. The undiminished popularity of this ballade is clearly connected to its dramatic effectiveness.

Both adult and children will enjoy the charming simplicities of Schumann and Hsiao, as well as the dramatic effectiveness and emotional intensity of Beethoven and Chopin, whose musical language is universal.