John Burge

Premiere: September 27, 2009, School of Music, Queen's University, Kingston, ON by John Burge, pianist.

Program Note: Based on the title of a book of poetry having the same title by American poet, David Breskin.

The series of piano etudes entitled, Studies in Poetry, was started in 2000 while John Burge was on a sabbatical leave from teaching at Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario. This leave coincided with the purchase of a grand piano and the etudes were a way of both breaking in the new keyboard and investigating some personal explorations in composition. An avid reader of poetry, the composer simply took the titles of some of his favorite books of English poetry and provided a musical response to the book’s title. The resultant works are really a tribute to each poet and the first three etudes were premiered by the composer in the fall of 2001. Through practicing these etudes consistently over many months, the composer was able to make a number of refinements and had thought to add a few more etudes to the series over the next few years. As often happens though, the demands of everyday life and more pressing commissions meant that he was not able to return to this series until his next sabbatical in 2008. At that time the composer added three more etudes to the series and these new etudes were premiered in the fall of 2009.

ESCAPE VELOCITY (Studies in Poetry No. 6) is inspired by a poetry collection of the same title by American poet, David Breskin. This volume includes a number of poems that have a great sense of rhythm often coupled with a biting sense of humour or irony. Personally, you have to be intrigued by a book of poetry that is endorsed by U2’s Bono. The subject matter is wide-ranging and there are certainly moments of lyrical beauty as found in the poem, “For Daisy on Her 13th Birthday.” The etude’s interpretation of the title is a virtuosic expansion of a few motives that becomes increasingly frenetic in an almost cinematic fashion. This is the musical equivalent of trying to get Scotty to find a bit more warp speed in the engine room so that the space ship can break free of the over-powering gravitational pull (tractor beam, force field, etc).

ESCAPE VELOCITY given a sparkling performance by the very talented  Anatasia Rizikov, while stil in her teens, as part of the 2013 Debut Atlantic Tour in Halifax, September, 2013.

Please note that John Burge is currently preparing a new edition of the Studies in Poetry Series which will be published under the Red Leaf Pianoworks label for release in 2021.  In the meantime, please access the music through the Canadian Music Centre link at the side.