October 29, 2019—CAMA's Masterseries—Stephen Hough, piano—Lobero Theatre, Santa Barbara, California

INTRODUCTION
to the program
By Stephen Hough
People are often reluctant to talk about
death. Indeed, there is a superstition about
the number four in Chinese culture because
it shares the same spoken sound as that
dark D-word. But in the world of the arts—in
painting, literature and music—death has
always been a central subject resulting in
the most exalted and inexhaustible expression.
Indeed, the omnipresent image of a
dead man hanging on a cross is arguably
the foundational icon of Western culture.
In this recital I wanted to explore some
pieces which have this theme as part of
their identity or inspiration. Chopin’s Funeral
March sonata and Liszt’s Funérailles
speak for themselves—and that the latter
was written in the same month as the Polish
composer’s death may or may not have
been an accident. Bach’s Chaconne was
apparently written in memory of his first
wife and Busoni’s Berceuse acquired the
subtitle ‘the man’s lullaby at his mother’s
coffin’ when he orchestrated it. My 4th
piano sonata takes a more abstract if still
melancholy inspiration from such ideas:
life’s brevity, a ‘sonata' which ends sooner
than expected. And in Liszt’s two Mephisto
Waltzes we face the Devil himself—the
cause of death and its terrors in traditional
Christian devotion: the final fear for the final
hour.
Death: the only certainty in every life;
the final piece on everyone’s recital programme.
Ah, but what about the encores?
Sim Canetty-Clarke
MASTERSERIES AT THE LOBERO THEATRE • STEPHEN HOUGH
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