Michael Finnissy Archives - charleshutchpress

March 28, 2025March 28, 2025

Ian Pace to play Pastoral Symphony No. 6 in second concert of The Beethoven Project for York Late Music at Unitarian Chapel

Pianist Ian Pace

IN the second of The Beethoven Project concerts for York Late Music, pianist Ian Pace continues his exploration of Beethoven’s nine symphonies (transcribed by Franz Liszt) with his iconic Pastoral Symphony No. 6 on April 5.

The 7.30pm programme at York Unitarian Chapel, St Saviourgate, York, also includes Michael Finnissy’s English Country Tunes (1-3), Beethoven’s Six Goethe-Lieder (transcribed by Franz Liszt) and a new work of three musical tributes by Steve Crowther,
Rock With Stock, A Study In Glass and Louis’ Angry Blues.

In 2024, Pace and York Late Music administrator and composer Crowther devised The Beethoven Project series of piano recitals based on the Beethoven symphonies transcribed by Liszt.

“The inaugural concert took place on November 4 2024 as part of the York Late Music concert series,” recalls Steve. “The programme included a dazzling performance of my Piano Sonata No.4 and Michael Finnissy’s transcriptions of songs by George Gershwin and Jerome Kern. But what transformed the concert into an event was Ian’s stunning performance of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony. The audience was enthralled by the energy and brilliance of the performance.

“CharlesHutchPress music critic Martin Dreyer said: ‘Liszt’s version of Beethoven’s Fifth is masterly, seemingly leaving nothing out and taxing the pianist to the very limit. But Pace was equal to his every demand’.”

Tomorrow, the second Beethoven Project concert will focus on the beloved and highly esteemed Symphony No. 6, known as the Pastoral Symphony. “Franz Liszt transcribed all nine of Beethoven’s symphonies for solo piano,” says Steve. “Published in 1865 and dedicated to Hans von Bülow, these transcriptions stand as an extraordinary feat of both virtuosity and musical insight.

“They are regarded as some of the most monumental and challenging works in the piano repertoire, not only for their technical demands but also for Liszt’s remarkable ability to faithfully capture the essence of Beethoven’s orchestral writing on a single instrument.

“However, Liszt didn’t transcribe the symphonies solely to showcase his impressive skills. At a time when orchestral performances weren’t widely accessible, these piano versions enabled people to experience Beethoven’s symphonies in intimate settings such as salons and homes. Provided the pianist possesses the necessary technical proficiency.”

In an interview in 1988, the great pianist Vladimir Horowitz said: “I deeply regret never having played Liszt’s arrangements of the Beethoven symphonies in public – these are the greatest works for the piano – tremendous works – every note of the symphonies is in the Liszt works.”

Steve continues: “Liszt would not only provide the pianist with a list of the orchestral instruments to imitate but also include pedal marks and fingerings to enhance the pianist’s clarity.

“Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony stands out as his most Romantic symphony. The composer draws inspiration from non-musical sources, using vivid images and descriptions to create a unique and captivating musical narrative.

“Beethoven subtitled it ‘Recollections of Country Life’, and it’s full of nature-inspired imagery — flowing brooks, birdsong, thunderstorms and joyful gatherings.”

I. Allegro ma non troppo – Awakening of cheerful feelings upon arrival in the countryside

II. Andante molto mosso – Scene by the brook

III. Allegro – Merry gathering of country folk

IV. Allegro – Thunderstorm

V. Allegretto – Shepherd’s Song; cheerful and thankful feelings after the storm

“Remarkably, Liszt meticulously preserved all of that in the piano transcription,” highlights Steve:

**Textures** – He faithfully replicates Beethoven’s orchestral textures using layers of arpeggios, tremolos and precise voicing.

**Bird Calls** – In the second movement, Liszt retains the flute, oboe and clarinet imitations of nightingale, quail, and cuckoo, employing delicate articulation and clear spacing.

**Storm Scene** – The fourth movement transforms into a dramatic tour-de-force for the pianist, featuring thundering left-hand tremolos, chromatic runs, and intricate rhythmic complexity.

**Pedalling and Voicing** – Liszt frequently employs meticulously marked pedal suggestions to help evoke the orchestral sonorities and blend harmonies in a manner reminiscent of strings or winds.

York Late Music presents The Beethoven Project: Ian Pace, York Unitarian Chapel, St Saviourgate, York, April 5, 7.30pm. Jakob Fichert will give a pre-concert talk with a complimentary glass of wine or juice at 6.45pm. Box office: latemusic.org/product/ian-pace-concert-tickets/ or on the door.

November 10, 2023November 10, 2023

REVIEW: Martin Dreyer’s verdict on Ian Pace, York Late Music, Unitarian Chapel, St Saviourgate, York, November 4

THE Late Music concert series, aka Living Music, Live, has made a habit of inviting pianist Ian Pace over the years. It is easy to see why. He is a monarch of the keyboard, not least in repertory of the last two centuries.

He brought his full powers to bear on a programme that began and ended with Liszt transcriptions of Beethoven, with Gershwin and Kern transcriptions by Michael Finnissy and Steve Crowther’s Fourth Piano Sonata in between.

This was the opening concert in what is planned to be an annual series, The Beethoven Project, curated by Crowther and focused around all of Liszt’s transcriptions of Beethoven’s symphonies.

Liszt was an indefatigable transcriber of works by others, especially where they could be incorporated into his own virtuoso recitals. They also provided him with a more or less regular income.

His version of Beethoven’s Fifth is masterly, seemingly leaving nothing out and taxing the pianist to the very limit. But Pace was equal to his every demand. No-one could claim that this was a note-perfect account – how could it be? – but it was dazzling nonetheless.

He started with the three opening quavers so rapid that they were almost indistinguishable. The whole first movement, complete with repeat of the exposition, was adrenalin-fuelled, with the left hand in constant motion.

The Andante was richly voiced, with strong accents. All the statements of its rondo theme were insistent, although some of the diversions were taken more gently. Some of the humour of the third movement – effectively a scherzo and trio – was lost to heavy treatment, so that Beethoven’s subtle instrumentation in the fugato became too distant a memory.

But one could only gasp in admiration at the orchestral tone that Pace generated in the finale, with his left hand again moving at frightening speed. The work as a whole inevitably emerged more percussively than the original. But Liszt’s achievement was never in doubt.

Pace had opened with Liszt’s version of the first song-cycle in history, Beethoven’s An die Ferne Geliebte (To The Distant Beloved), six songs given without a break. Pace took great pains to highlight the vocal melodies, while opting for measured tempos larded with considerable rubato, probably more than a singer would countenance.

As the cycle progressed Pace made his upper register twinkle several times, not least with the trilling of birds in the unheard text.

Michael Finnissy’s ‘transcriptions’ from songs by Gershwin and Kern were much less literal than the Liszt and much more like arrangements, preferring to conjure atmosphere and doodle over harmonies.

In Love Is Here To Stay (from the 1938 film The Goldwyn Follies), the tune was held back until near the end, although in Embraceable You (from Girl Crazy) it was the jazz element that took control. Best of all was his version of Kern’s Can’t Help Lovin’ That Man (from Show Boat) where the melody was disguised but always detectable. Pace had them well organised.

So also in Steve Crowther’s Fourth Sonata, which sounded not unconnected with the Gershwin that preceded it, although sparer harmonically. Pace sustained excellent momentum and a staccato touch through the rapid opening movement, which was awash with syncopation and sounded like a rondo.

The slow movement was more ruminative, although tastily decorated with roulades. Decorations during the finale tended to occur in the right hand while the left carried the main theme. But both hands flitted lightly around the keyboard – and I swear I could hear traces of Kern here; perhaps they were just left over in my aural memory. But the work was never less than intriguing and often much more.

Pace had once again proved a mighty champion of the new and the little-known.

Review by Martin Dreyer

November 1, 2023November 25, 2023

Ian Pace to begin Late Music York’s Beethoven Project of Liszt symphonic transcriptions to piano on Saturday

*Ian Pace: Launching The Beethoven Project for Late Music York on Saturday*

VIRTUOSO pianist Ian Pace will perform Late Music York’s first recital of The Beethoven Project at the Unitarian Chapel, St Saviourgate, York, on Saturday night.

Devised by Pace and Late Music administrator Steve Crowther, the project involves programming the whole cycle of Beethoven’s symphonies transcribed for piano by Franz Liszt in an annual series of piano recitals.

“Playing all nine transcribd Beethoven symphonies, the project should take Ian seven to eight years!” says Steve. “It’s incredibly demanding and it’ll be a real event.”

The opening 7.30pm concert features the heroic Symphony No. 5 and Liszt’s sublime transcription of the radical An die Ferne Geliebte, Beethoven’s only song cycle.

“But why did Liszt undertake such an enormous artistic challenge?” asks Steve. “To be sure, he loved the music deeply; he loved the challenge; he also loved the idea of the intimacy of performing these orchestral works on the piano, experiencing the symphonies afresh.

“But the main reason was financial. The music publisher Breitkopf & Härtel commissioned Liszt to transcribe the work, paying him eight francs per page. Liszt completed this (and the 6th Symphony) in 1837, ten years after Beethoven’s death.”

In an interview in 1988, the great pianist Vladimir Horowitz said: “I deeply regret never having played Liszt’s arrangements of the Beethoven symphonies in public. These are the greatest works for the piano – tremendous works – every note of the symphonies is in the Liszt works.”

Steve says: “Horowitz’s comments are embedded in the score itself to help the performer realise the original work through the lens of the piano transcription. Liszt would note down the names of the orchestral instruments for the pianist to imitate and add pedal marks and fingerings for pianistic clarity.”

*Late Music York’s poster for the Beethoven Project*

Saturday’s full concert programme is:

Beethoven: An die Ferne Geliebte (transcribed by Franz Liszt) ;

Gershwin: Love Is Here To Stay (transcribed by Michael Finnissy);

Gershwin: Embraceable You (transcribed by Michael Finnissy);

Gershwin (maybe): Please Pay Some Attention To Me (transcribed by Michael Finnissy)

Jerome Kern: Can’t Help Lovin’ That Man (transcribed by Michael Finnissy)

Steve Crowther: Piano Sonata No.4;

Beethoven: Symphony No.5 (transcribed by Franz Liszt).

“Now if we park the rogue Piano Sonata, the rest of the programme also reimagines original works, songs by Gershwin and Kern, for piano. This time transcribed by the wonderful composer, Michael Finnissy,” says Steve.

“I know Michael, having studied with him at the University of Sussex and continued contact with him through programming, and commissioning his highly original music. Indeed, it was Michael that introduced me and Late Music to Ian Pace. The rest, as they say, is history.”

Crowther sent Finnissy the programme blueprint, “not surprisingly receiving a corrective response with a lovely insight into Gershwin’s Please Pay Some Attention To Me”.

Finnissy wrote: “I have slightly corrected your programme attributions. Richard Rodney Bennett gave me the melody of Please Pay Some Attention To Me; he had been given it by a Swedish cabaret singer. It is (RRB told me) only attributed to George Gershwin – and does not appear in his work list.

“Jerome Kern wrote (rather than transcribed!) Can’t Help Lovin’ That Man (the original version of Show Boat had ‘dat’ instead of ’that’, but more recent editions have replaced this imitation-black-slang with ‘plain English’).”

In a pre-concert talk at 6.45pm, with a complimentary glass of wine or juice, Ian Pace will be in conversation with fellow pianist Kate Harrison-Ledger.

“We would like to discuss the Liszt and Gershwin transcriptions, and what they bring to the original compositions,” says Kate. “We will hopefully include a few anecdotes from Michael Finnissy, and, if time allows, invite questions from the audience.”

Tickets are on sale at www.latemusic.org and on the door.