Music of our time

Music of Our Time

A celebration of contemporary piano works at Bechstein Hall

Pianists Edna Stern, Evelyne Berezovsky, Christian Watcher, and Louis-Victor Bak will perform throughout the evening. In line with Mosaic Seasons’ philosophy, the concert presents a range of works by living composers, allowing audiences to hear a selection of different works by different musicians.

Curated by composer Tatiana Svetlova, Founder & Artistic Director of Mosaic Seasons, the concert showcases the breadth of piano music being composed in the 21st century.

Following the success of Mosaic Seasons’ ‘Music of Our Time’ series in Monaco and the South of France, as well as individual concerts in the UK.

Performers

Edna Stern – Piano

Evelyne Berezovsky – Piano

Louis-Victor Bak – Piano

Programme Notes

The programme opens with a pairing of Silvina Milstein’s Piano Phantasy after Mozart K. 475 and Mozart’s Fantasia No. 4 in C minor, K. 475. Milstein’s piece transforms Mozart’s Fantasia into a rhapsodic exploration of tonality. In K. 475, the tonic is subtly weakened, and the dominant key emerges as a distant tonal area; Milstein mirrors this shifting landscape with a piece that combines rigorous Classical symmetry with an improvisatory, expressive character. The Phantasy bridges tradition and contemporary writing, approachable to all pianists while resonating with the heritage of the piano repertoire. Evelyne Berezovsky will perform Silvina Milstein’s piece, followed by Mozart’s Fantasia No. 4 in C minor, K. 475 played by Edna Stern.

Evelyne Berezovsky then presents Geoff King’s Family Photos: David, in Hastings, a work that evokes the quiet magic of a hillside road through a neo-impressionistic lens, turning memory into music.

As part of the programme for Music of Our Time, audiences will hear two works by composer Tatiana Svetlova that blend playfulness with reflective depth. Sonnets No. 4 and 5 on the Theme of Bach’s Chaconne is a cycle of works focusing on Bach’s masterpieces and representing Tatiana’s own reflections on the Bach Chaconne. Madonna and Child (for Gaudi’s La Pedrera) is a meditative homage to Antoni Gaudi, who wanted to create the sculpture of Madonna and Child on the roof of La Pedrera in Barcelona, but the developer refused this plan. Tatiana created this piece as a “spiritual sculpture” in Gaudi’s memory.

In addition to Silvina Milstein’s work and Tatiana Svetlova’s Madonna and Child (for Gaudi’s La Pedrera), Edna Stern will perform three of her own compositions: Prelude without a C/do, Etude “La disparition d’après Perec” without E/mi, and Kidnapped: 7.X.2023. These pieces are inspired by Georges Perec’s novel La Disparition (a novel written without the letter E) and his poems that systematically suppress a letter. They explore this systematic absence through musical language. Kidnapped: 7.X.2023 is a reference to Janáček’s 1.X.1905 Sonata; both compositions were written as an expression of horror following a devastating political event.

Sir George Benjamin’s Shadowlines brings the evening to a close. A sequence of six canonic preludes, it moves from a seemingly improvisatory prologue to a gentle, reflective epilogue, passing through explosive rhythmic rifts and expansive lyrical passages. Commissioned by Betty Freeman and written for Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Shadowlines demonstrates Benjamin’s mastery of form and contrapuntal dialogue, and will be performed by Louis-Victor Bak.

In line with Mosaic Seasons’ philosophy, the concert presents a range of works by living composers, emphasising that contemporary music is vital to shaping the tastes and sensibilities of the next generation and their engagement with classical music.

Join us for a drink! The bar is open before and after the performance.
Serving until 22:00.