Schubert's Four-Hand: Music for Collaborative Play

During the Industrial Revolution, the pianoforte and its repertoire became more readily available to the growing bourgeoisie. The instrument served not only as a furniture signifying wealth, but also as a site of social entertainment. Many of the works written for piano four-hand were transcriptions of symphonic works, while others stood as self-standing compositions with the same artistic depth as their solo counterparts (such as Sonatas, Variation sets, and dances). The emergence of four-hand piano music gave embodiment of music on the piano a new twist: the two bodies suddenly were faced with a new kinesthetic relationship to the instrument - one that required both parties to listen and react to their counterpart. In certain works, such as Schubert's Variations from a Theme from Herold's Marie (D. 908) which Schumann praises as a complete novel in tones ("ein vollkomner Tonroman"), the two bodies take on a challenge requiring team-work to overcome its virtuosic loopholes. Under this light, we will be presenting a discussion of four-hand piano music as a site of collaborated musical play and culminate the presentation with the performance of the Schubert Variations. /p>
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Shin Hwang, a prize-winner of the 1st International Westfield Fortepiano Competition, is a versatile keyboardist who has won recognition in both modern and historical performance. After completing his Masters degree at the University of Michigan with Penelope Crawford and Arthur Greene, he received a Fulbright Grant to study in the Netherlands at the Royal Conservatory of the Hague with Jacques Ogg. In 2011, he was invited to perform at the United States Library of Congress for the American Musicological Society Lecture Series: "What the Autograph Can Tell Us: Beethoven's Sonata in E major, Opus 109". He completed additional studies with Robert Hill at the Hochschule für Musik Freiburg and is currently completing a Doctorate in Musical Arts in Performance Practice at Cornell University under the guidance of Malcolm Bilson.

American pianist Ryan MacEvoy McCullough has developed a career performing everything from standard repertoire to electroacoustic improvisations. He has appeared frequently with orchestra, including the Toronto Symphony and Los Angeles Philharmonic, and highlights of recent seasons include George Benjamin's Duet with the Toronto Symphony, conducted by the composer, and co-directorship of Environs Messiaen, a festival at Cornell University celebrating Olivier Messiaen's bird music in collaboration with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Ryan is a doctoral candidate in Keyboard Studies at Cornell University where he works with Xak Bjerken. For more information, visit www.RMMpiano.com.