US Premiere: Kaikhosru Sorabji: Symphonic Variations by Yi-Chung Huang (24)

The modern school of piano playing is a cemetery of the spirit. I have nothing but contempt for the square rhythmic sense and the sterile, metronomic athleticism that defines the modern style. To treat the piano as an Olympic game is an abysmal failure of art.

Kaikhosru Sorabji’s Symphonic Variations is not a work for athletes. An athlete, obsessed with efficiency and mechanical precision, cannot survive an 8-hour odyssey of the soul; they would crumble under the weight of its psychic demands. This is the most dramatic and intense piece ever written - a living, breathing, and incandescent landscape that requires the tonal and emotional vibration of the mystic world.

Following the lineage of Rachmaninov, Cortot, Friedman, and Tiegerman, I reject the "clean", vertical, and "metronomic" style of the modern style. I do not treat the piece as mere technical studies and play it safe; I do not seek to calculate literal precision and prioritize accuracy over agony; I seek to exert total dominance over the instrument and to find the dangerous fire that only pure, trembling, and even bloody intensity can provide. If you seek a historic confrontation with the sublime, I invite you to witness this premiere.

Program:

Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji (1892-1988): Symphonic Variations KSS 59 (US premiere)

Part 1: Theme; Variations 1-27 (including Preludio-Corale, Waltz and Garden of Iram) - from 12:00 pm to ca. 2:10 pm

Intermission 1 (15 mins)

Part 2: Variations 28-54 (including Quasi Raga, Punta d'Organo and the Passacaglia) - from ca. 2:25 pm to 4:35 pm

Intermission 2 (15 mins)

Part 3: Variations 55-81 (including Allusion of Chopin, Aria, Notturno, Cadenza, Fugues and the Epilogue) - from ca. 4:50 pm to 7:40 pm

Piano: Yi-Chung Huang, age 24

This is not a collection of short pieces; it is a single, massive psychological journey derived from a theme with an iconic 3-note-motif. While we understand the necessity of brief breaks for the audience, to experience the full transformation of the Symphonic Variations, one must be present for the long arc of its development and prepare to surrender oneself to the entire 8-hour experience. Only those who go through the full journey will understand the true scale of Sorabji's genius.

Info: Theme; Variations 1-27 (including Preludio-Corale, Waltz and Garden of Iram)

Info: Variations 28-54 (including Quasi Raga, Punta d'Organo and the Passacaglia)

Info: Variations 55-81 (including Allusion of Chopin, Aria, Notturno, Cadenza, Fugues and the Epilogue)

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

The DiMenna Center for Classical Music, Mary Flagier Cary Hall, 450 West 37th Street, New York, United States

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