Movements
- "For Felicia Montealegre (February 6, 1922)". The first movement was written for Leonard Bernstein’s wife Felicia Montealegre, a Chilean actress. This movement is marked Tranquillo: piacevole and then Pochiss. Piu mosso means "more motion". The movement begins at piano and ends on pianississimo which sets the mood for the next movement.
- "For Johnny Mehegan (June 6, 1920)". The second movement is dedicated to Johnny Mehegan, a jazz pianist. Marked Agitato: scherzando, this movement has the playful feel of a scherzo and the syncopation of what could be heard of as jazz improvisation. To balance the first movement, it begins at pianississimo where the first movement leaves off and ends pianissimo.
- "For David Diamond (July 9, 1915)". The third movement was composed for David Leo Diamond, also an established composer. “His music was characterized by its classic structures and its strong melodic sense.” This movement represents the style of Diamond. There is a strong sense of melody line and character and because it is marked Andantino, the flowing melody line can be linked to the first movement. Like the previous two movements, this movement begins softly starting on piano and ending on pianissimo.
- "For Helen Coates ( July 19, 1899)". Helen Coates was a long time friend to Leonard Bernstein. She was not only his piano instructor as a child but later became his personal secretary. It is no wonder than that the last movement is the longest and the most technically difficult. This is the only movement to begin and end on forte.
Read more about this topic: Four Anniversaries For The Piano
Famous quotes containing the word movements:
“He sways his head from side to side, with movements like a snake;
And when you think he’s half asleep, he’s always wide awake.”
—T.S. (Thomas Stearns)
“Awareness of the stars and their light pervades the Koran, which reflects the brightness of the heavenly bodies in many verses. The blossoming of mathematics and astronomy was a natural consequence of this awareness. Understanding the cosmos and the movements of the stars means understanding the marvels created by Allah. There would be no persecuted Galileo in Islam, because Islam, unlike Christianity, did not force people to believe in a “fixed” heaven.”
—Fatima Mernissi, Moroccan sociologist. Islam and Democracy, ch. 9, Addison-Wesley Publishing Co. (Trans. 1992)
“The novel is not “a crazy quilt of bits”; it is a logical sequence of psychological events: the movements of stars may seem crazy to the simpleton, but wise men know the comets come back.”
—Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977)