Russian Music in Marc-André Hamelin’s Performing Practice (Part 2): Nikolai Medtner’s Sonatas

Abstract

This article, which considers the performance art of Canadian pianist Marc-André Hamelin, continues the study of his interpretive approach to 20th-century Russian music that began in the previous issue of this journal. In this section, the author turns to the interpretation of sonatas by Nikolai Medtner, a composer whose work occupies a central place in Hamelin’s performing repertoire. The pianist played and recorded all of Medtner’s sonatas and two volumes of Forgotten Motifs, op. 38 and op. 39. Highlighting both similarities and differences in the musical preferences of both masters, the article notes in particular their commitment to polyphony and large-scale form. Special attention is paid to the polymelodism of Medtner’s texture and its reflection in Hamelin’s interpretation. The pianist builds his sound canvas according to the equality of voices, although often the accompaniment becomes a more striking element of the texture. Hamelin’s timbre palette absorbs all the richness of the piano sound — from light perlé to deep legatissimo. The article also examines approaches to constructing performance form in sonatas. The logic of the construction of the cycle in Hamelin’s interpretation is subject to the natural course of development, in which the dynamics depend on the transformation of the texture and the frequency of the change of harmonic events; at the end of the sonatas, an increase in the tempo is frequently encountered. The primary means of unifying form during performance becomes the revelation of recurring thematic intonations, as confirmed by a number of examples. In conclusion, it is noted that a lyrical element predominates in Hamelin’s interpretation of the cycle of Medtner sonatas.

Keywords: Marc-André Hamelin, Nikolai Medtner, piano performance, piano style, interpretation of Nikolai Medtner’s piano sonatas, performing individuality