Picture Studies is a “21st-century Pictures at an Exhibition” — like Modest Mussorgsky‘s 19th-century piano suite frequently performed in Maurice Ravel‘s splendid orchestration, Adam Schoenberg’s composition was inspired by several works of visual art. Picture Studies was commissioned by the Kansas City Symphony and Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. Please find below links to the Nelson-Atkins Museum’s webpages for each of the artworks that provided the impetus for Adam Schoenberg’s musical responses:
1. Intro
Features the piano — a reference to Mussorgsky’s “Promenade” from Pictures at an Exhibition)
Beethoven: String Quartet in C-sharp minor, op. 131 (1826)
Liszt: Piano Sonata in B minor, S. 178 (completed 1853)
Wednesday, March 27, 2024 • 7:00 p.m. Maryville University Auditorium • Directions
Free Admission
The concert will not be live-streamed, and no recording will be available, so please consider enjoying this performance in person. Feel free to share this information with anyone you know who may be interested.
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827): String Quartet No. 14 in C-sharp minor, op.131 (1826) — ca. 45 minutes
Intermission
Franz Liszt (1811-1886): Les cloches de Genève (The Bells of Geneva): Nocturne from Années de pèlerinage (Years of Pilgrimage), Première année: Suisse (First Year: Switzerland), S.160 (1848-54) — ca. 7 minutes
Franz Liszt: Piano Sonata in B minor, S. 178 (ca. 1842-53) — ca. 30 minutes
Brief Program Note
Performed by artists from the St. Louis Symphony, this recital features two towering masterpieces from the nineteenth century: Ludwig van Beethoven’s epic String Quartet No. 14 in C-sharp minor, op. 131, and Franz Liszt’s iconic Piano Sonata in B minor. According to Robert Schumann, Beethoven’s late quartets “stand…on the extreme boundary of all that has hitherto been attained by human art and imagination.” Renowned for his pianistic brilliance and embrace of literary drama in music of harmonic daring, Liszt showed incredible ingenuity in synthesizing his personal idiom with several formal influences — including Beethoven’s — in his staggering, single-movement Piano Sonata in B minor. We hope you’ll join us this evening to enjoy performances of two highly significant instrumental works.
Friday, April 21, 11:00 a.m. — Student Recital 5 of 5
Friday, April 21, 7:00 p.m. — Spring Concert: Notorious (Maryville’s Student A Cappella Group)
Saturday, April 22, 7:00 p.m. — Senior Recital: Ashley McFarland
Sunday, April 23, 3:00 p.m. — Music at Maryville 2022-23 Concert 5 of 5: Arianna String Quartet — Featuring works by Joseph Haydn, Frederick Tillis, and Felix Mendelssohn
If you’d like to hear this SLSO concert but can’t make it to Powell Hall this weekend, you’ll be able to tune into St. Louis Public Radio by clicking the play button near the top of their homepage on Saturday, March 4, at 8:00 p.m. CST (6:00 p.m. Pacific, 9:00 p.m. Eastern), and hear their broadcast of the March 4 morning concert. This broadcast will probably be offered only on the evening of Saturday, March 4 (it is unlikely to be available on demand).
A versatile pianist, Peter Henderson is active as a performer in solo, chamber and orchestral settings. Henderson is currently Associate Professor of Music and Artist-in-Residence at Maryville University, where he has served on the faculty since 2005. In 2015, Henderson was appointed Principal Keyboardist of the Sun Valley Music Festival Orchestra. Prior to the 2023-24 season, Henderson was appointed to the Principal Keyboard position in the Saint Louis Symphony (SLSO) by Music Director Stéphane Denève.
During January and February 2016, Henderson was the piano soloist in the SLSO’s California tour performances of Olivier Messiaen’s Des Canyons aux étoiles… (From the Canyons to the Stars…). Critics described him as a “powerhouse soloist” (San Francisco Chronicle) and praised his Messiaen playing for its “intense focus and thrilling vibrancy” (San Jose Mercury News). In addition to his regular ensemble performances with the SLSO, Henderson often delivers pre-concert lectures, introducing subscription concert programs from Powell Hall’s stage.
Henderson’s discography includes collaborations with violinist David Halen, flutist Mark Sparks, bass trombonist Gerry Pagano, violist Jonathan Vinocour, and soprano Marlissa Hudson. His most recent solo album is A Celebration of African Composers for Piano (AMP AGCD 2706, released 2017).
Henderson also occasionally composes music and works as a recording producer. His work for trombone and piano entitled Rückblick (Looking Back) appears on Gerry Pagano’s album Solitude, released December 2018. Printed and electronic editions of the score of Rückblick were issued by Ascenda Music Publishing in January 2024.
Henderson is an advocate of new music, having given several premieres of solo piano and chamber works. He enjoys performing solo recitals exploring focused repertoire: during the 2011-12 season, he performed the thirty-two piano sonatas of Beethoven; in November and December 2012, he presented the complete piano works of Debussy; and in November 2013, he played Chopin’s twenty-seven études in a single concert.
Henderson holds the degree Doctor of Music from Indiana University, Bloomington, where his main piano instructor was Dr. Karen Shaw; he has also studied with Dr. Jay Mauchley at the University of Idaho. He and his wife Kristin Ahlstrom, the SLSO’s Associate Principal Second Violinist, live in Saint Louis with their lively, sweet beagle/terrier-mix, Zinni.
