John Burge

Commissioners: Three Canadian Orchestras for Canadian pianist, Janina Fialkowska: Orchestre symphonique de Québec, Kingston Symphony Orchestra and Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra.

Premiere: In the fall of 2010 with pianist, Janina Fialkowska: Orchestre symphonique de Québec, Jean-Marie Zeitouni, conductor, September 29, 2010; Kingston Symphony Association, Glen Fast, conductor, October 3, 2010; Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, Ivars Taurins, conductor, November 27, 2010.

Instrumentation: 2222/22/2Perc+Timp/Strings

Duration: 25 minutes

Dedication: Mathew Walton

Program note: Prelude Variations, for piano and orchestra, was composed for Canadian pianist, Janina Fialkowska, to mark the 200th anniversary of the birth of Frederic Chopin in 2010. The work is a set of variations based on Chopin's c minor Prelude (Op. 28, No. 20) and was jointly commissioned by the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre symphonique de Québec and Kingston Symphony Association. Janina Fialkowska has long been admired for her sensitive interpretations of Chopin's music and she performed this new work with all three commissioning orchestras in the fall of 2010. The c minor prelude's immediately recognizable melody, harmonic design and compact 13-bar length make it an ideal springboard for variations and other composers in the past have also been inspired to treat this prelude in a theme and variations format.

Burge's work begins with an orchestral introduction that leads to the piano's solo statement of the theme. The theme is presented exactly as Chopin composed it, although the orchestra drifts into the Chopin original towards the end of this opening statement. Thereafter the music presents eight contrasting variations, each of which can be considered as a self-contained character study that often focuses on just on one aspect of the theme. The first two variations are somewhat up tempo with clearly stated fragments of the theme being passed back and forth between the soloist and orchestra while the third variation is a slow reflection of the melody that exemplifies the Chopin characteristic of highly independent rhythmic freedom between the pianist's hands. Variations four, five and six each gain in harmonic and virtuosic intensity until the work reaches the seventh variation which is the emotional heart of the piece. Indeed, variation seven could well be subtitled, Nocturne, as the music becomes more intimate in the way that the piano creates a texture of a lyrical right-hand melody supported by a left-hand accompaniment—a trait that is common to all Chopin's Nocturnes. Variation eight pays final tribute to Chopin by reinterpreting the theme in a waltz-like fashion, a genre that Chopin repeatedly returned to during his life. Towards the end of this last variation, the piano has a brief solo that leads to a coda during which the piano and orchestra push each other along in dramatic fashion until the final cadence.

Performance Materials: Please see the Canadian Music Centre for the purchase, printing on demand, or rental of all performance materials for this work: Prelude Variations (CMC)

VIMEO LINK: In February of 2014, Mathew Walton, a Doctoral Piano Student at the University of Alberta, performed Prelude Variations with the Universtiy of Alberta Symphony Orchestra as the winner of that year's Concerto Competition. The password is "Mozart" to view the performance.  While working on his doctorate, Mathew devoted time to researching and performing Burge's Studies in Poetry Series for solo piano and he is the dedicatee of Burge's Twenty-four Preludes.