Je ne sais quoi

Name: Je ne sais quoi
Start: 2025-11-22T15:00:00-06:00
Location: Unity Church-Unitarian

Schedule

Sat, 22 Nov, 2025 at 03:00 pm

UTC-06:00

Location

Unity Church-Unitarian | Saint Paul, MN

Join us for a mostly French program with Kate Brown on piano.
Jean-Michel Damase is known for his French elegance and his 17 variations is no exception. He was a Parisian pianist who studied at the Paris Conservatoire and the virtuosity of the five instruments of the wind quintet is beautifully written for in this work.
Originally composed for piano, Maurice Ravel's Pavane is known for its simple yet lovely elegiac melody based on the stately Spanish court dance of the 16th century. Ravel described the piece as "an evocation of a pavane that a little princess might, in former times, have danced at the Spanish court."
Frédéric François Chopin's Preludes were inspired by Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier and were written during his stay in Spain with his lover George Sand. They convey a wide range of emotions and the famous raindrop prelude was inspired by the persistent rain in Majorca.
Famous for its use in Disney's Fantasia, Paul Dukas' The Sorcerer's Apprentice is based on the ballad by Goethe which tells the story of an apprentice who animates brooms to help with his chores, leading to a magical flood that he can't stop. Known for its masterful orchestration and use of narrative themes to depict events, this popular piece is full of humor and dazzling lines.
Program:
Damase - Dix-Sept Variations (1951)
Ravel - Pavane (1899) arr. by Lisa Portus
Chopin- selections from Preludes (1839) transcribed by David Plylar
Dukas- L'Apprenti Sorcier (1897) arr. by Iain Farrington