Illuminating Music: Piano Works Inspired by Visual Art

Visual art has long unleashed the imagination of composers, and it continues to do so today. Hear piano music by Liszt, Debussy, Mussorgsky, Rachmaninoff, Granados, and others, including two world premieres co-commissioned by Juilliard and The Morgan Library and Museum by composers Paola Prestini and Tengku Irfan.

LISZT Sposalizio (Marriage) from Years of Pilgrimage, vol. 2 (1858)
After the painting Lo Sposalizio (Marriage of the Virgin) (1504) by Raphael
Rieko Tsuchida, piano

LISZT Il penseroso (The Thinker) from Years of Pilgrimage, vol. 2 (1858)
After a sculpture of Lorenzo de’ Medici (1534) by Michelangelo
Christopher Staknys, piano

MUSSORGSKY Selections from Pictures at an Exhibition (1874)
After drawings and watercolors by Viktor Hartmann
Angie Zhang, piano

DEBUSSY Feux d’artifice (Fireworks) from Preludes, Book 2 (1913)
Possibly after the painting Nocturne in Black and Gold: The Falling Rocket (1875) by James McNeill Whistler
Nathan Ben-Yehuda, piano

TENGKU IRFAN Characters in Conversation (world premiere)
After the drawing Conversation (1919) by Christian Rohlfs
Derek Wang, piano

MUSSORGSKY Selections from Pictures at an Exhibition (1874)
After drawings and watercolors by Viktor Hartmann
Salome Jordania, piano

DEBUSSY L’isle Joyeuse (Isle of Joy) (1094)
After the painting Voyage to Cythera (1717) by Antoine Watteau
Kyungho Yu, piano

GRANADOS El pelele from Goyescas (1911)
After the pianting El pelele (The Straw Manikin) (1792) by Francisco Goya
Zhu Wang, piano

RACHMANINOFF Prelude in B Minor, Op. 32, No. 10 (1910)
After the painting The Return Home (1887) by Arnold Bocklin
Thomas Steigerwald, piano

PAOLA PRESTINI Seurat’s Path (world premiere)
After the drawing Approach to the Bridge at Courbevoie (1886) by Georges Seurat
Robert Fleitz, piano

MUSSORGSKY Selections from Pictures at an Exhibition (1874)
After drawings and watercolors by Viktor Hartmann
Mackenzie Melemed, piano