Brendan Fox: Consolation / Revelation

Milwaukee-based pianist Brendan Fox presents Consolation / Revelation, a recital built around two major works: Eric Wubbels’ contemporary tour de force Consolation, and Beethoven’s transcendent final piano sonata in C minor, Op. 111.

Eric Wubbels, pianist and co-director of the Wet Ink Ensemble, composed Consolation in 2004. In this grand exploration of the piano, Xenakis-esque maximalism meets spectralism and phasing techniques. The music traverses a wide spectrum of moods, from exaltation to melancholy.

Beethoven’s last piano sonata traces a journey from darkness to light, its stormy opening movement followed by a set of variations that pushes the bounds of his musical language in its growing revelation.

Other, shorter works tie together this program that finds meaning and wisdom in dark emotions.

Program:

Nadia Boulanger: Vers la vie nouvelle
Johannes Brahms: Capriccio in F-sharp minor, Op. 76, No. 1; Intermezzo in B minor, Op. 119, No. 1
Eric Wubbels: Consolation
Manuel Ponce: Romanza de amor
Ludwig van Beethoven: Sonata No. 32 in C minor, Op. 111

Brendan Fox holds a Bachelor of Music in Piano and Composition from Wheaton College (IL) and a Master of Music in Composition from Ithaca College. Past performances have included a lecture-recital of Charles Ives’ Concord Sonata, which he brought to cities including New York, Chicago, Milwaukee, and Toronto. He has played collaboratively with the Wisconsin Philharmonic and Milwaukee Children’s Choir, and his works have been performed by Tontine Ensemble and the Milwaukee Philharmonic. He writes Milwaukee arts coverage for Shepherd Express and is the manager of the classical department at music publisher Hal Leonard.