Intended Audience
Musician-in-Residence Brian Ganz is joined by Music Faculty Beverly Babcock on April 19 in a performance of two rarely heard works of Fryderyk Chopin. Babcock and Ganz will perform the Fantasy on Polish Airs, Op. 13, and the Rondeau à la Krakowiak, Op. 14, both of which were composed originally for piano and orchestra, in a version for two pianos. The concert will take place at 12 noon on April 19 in Auerbach Auditorium of St. Mary's Hall on the College campus. The concert is free and open to the public.
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"I am thrilled to be able to make music again with our beloved longtime member of the piano faculty, Beverly Babcock," pianist Ganz said. "She is one of the brightest lights of our musical community and has been missed terribly." The two will play works Chopin composed at the young age of 18, the Fantasy on Polish Airs, Op. 13 and the Krakowiak, Op. 14. Ganz will play the solo part and Babcock, frequently referred to affectionately by those who know her as the "Babcock Philharmonic," will play the orchestra part rewritten for a second piano.
The Fantasy on Polish Airs, Op.13, features variations on a lovely Polish folk song "The Moon had Set; The Dogs were Asleep." This had been the favorite folk song of Chopin's mother, who often sang it to her children when they were young. "This is one of the sweetest melodies you will ever hear. It's easy to see why Chopin's mother fell in love with it, and why he used it so tenderly in the Fantasy on Polish Airs."
The opus 14 work, written in the same year of 1828, features the Krakowiak, a Polish folk dance also known as the Polish National Dance. Chopin himself was a good dancer, and Polish dances are featured regularly in his works. "But the Krakowiak is a dance that inspired only a relative few of his works," Ganz continued. "We hear it in the last movement of his First Piano Concerto, and we hear it in this wonderful work full of youthful vigor. The 18-year-old Chopin was especially pleased with this piece, and we hear that confidence throughout the piece."