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Nikolai Medtner: Skakza, Op. 34, no. 2
A piece for solo piano performed live by Andrew Infanti
Nikolaï Medtner (1879-1951) could easily be dismissed as an obscure musical reactionary: “Defender of the Sacred Laws of Eternal Art” in his terms. Yet, his imagination overflows with literary riches 108 songs to Russian, English, German, and French poets… from various periods. (continue reading …)
A Fairy Tale
The 38 Skazki for piano — in Russian, Fairy tales or Legends — seem to cancel out his rigid aesthetic decrees. Medtner writes for the piano with a fluidity only surpassed by Chopin.
The Fairy Tale (Skazka), Op. 34, no. 2, in E minor, is distinguished by a flowing left hand accompanying a heart-rending melody for the right. Its epigraph is a line from Russian poet Fyodor Tyutchev :
“… what we once called ours is gone forever.”
Andrew Infanti takes immense pleasure in seeking Medtner’s Skazki, rare musical jewels, as encores for his concerts.
