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Scenes of Country Life -Piano Excursions


Details

Ian Scarfe full profile / Solo piano / 1 musician


Full program notes

Ludwig van Beethoven - Piano Sonata in D Major, Op 29 “Pastoral”
Samuel Barber - Excursions, Op. 20
Amy Beach - A Hermit Thrush at Eve, Op. 92
Edvard Grieg - Scenes of Country Life, Op. 19


Historical context

In the fall of 2026, Ian counted that he had already played more than 100 concerts in the year. After preparing a program about “Scenes of Country Life”, he decided that, just like Beethoven, he needed to recharge, and seek inspiration by escaping the city life of a working musician.

Starting his escape in Switzerland, where Ian has worked for many years with the Zurich Beethoven Trio, he and his wife lived traveling by bicycle for two weeks, following the Rhône river out of the Alps, through southern France to the Mediterranean, and eventually to Girona, Spain.

For this concert program Ian brings new stories to a diverse collection. of music, by composers who took their own inspiration from the countryside, including:
- Beethoven’s wanderings along the Danube river (captured in his “Pastoral” Sonata).
- Samuel Barber’s “Excursions, Op. 20”, a musical jaunt into upstate New York, drawing from American popular music of the 1930s and 40s,
-Amy Beach’s impression of a woodland artist retreat in New Hampshire, and its resident birds (“A Hermit Thrush at Eve”, Op. 92)
- Edvard Grieg’s “Scenes of Norwegian Country Life, Op. 19”, a set of Nordic tales of trolls, weddings, and country festivals.


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