Sergei Bortkiewicz - 6 Lyrical Thoughts op 11 (Somero)

Sergiusz Bortkiewicz - 6 Pensées lyriques
Published in 1909

Pianist - Jouni Somero

0:00 - I. Andantino Cantabile
4:33 - II. Sostenuto assai
7:23 - III. Allegretto grazioso
8:43 - IV. Moderato, quasi improvisando
12:38 - V. Poco moto, con amabilita
14:40 - VI. Andante poco moto

Biography
Sergei Bortkiewicz (1877-1952) was born into a Polish noble family in Kharkov which was then a part of the Russian Empire. His love for music and his talent was given to him by his mother, Sofia, who was a co-founder of the Kharkov school of music [1]. Growing up, he received a humanities education as well as a musical one, and he stopped just short of receiving a doctorate in Law to focus on music [1].

His musical education took place at home, then in St. Petersburg under Anatoly Lyadov and Karl von Arek, and finally in Leipzig under Alfred Reisenauer and Salomon Jadassohn. From 1904 to 1914, he lived in Berlin to focus on composing.

Unfortunately, life in the 20th Century would prove exceedingly complicated and perilous for Bortkiewicz. After the beginning of the First World War, Bortkiewicz was deported back to Russia, where just shortly afterwards, the Bolsheviks would seize power. Communists had occupied his family's estate at Artemovka, so they were only able to move back once the White Army had taken the territory. The respite was short, as the Bolsheviks would retake Kharkov soon after. Almost everything from the estate had been looted anyways, and his mother and sister, Vera, would soon die of Typhus.

Having very little left, Bortkiewicz did the sensible thing and escaped via Yalta to Istanbul, where he began impressing the locals and the many ambassadors at the embassies. The Yugoslav ambassador, Natalie Chaponitsch, arranged for Borkiewicz and his wife to obtain Yugoslav visas, moving to Belgrade at the first opportunity. For a while, the Bortkiewicz family considered staying permanently in Jugoslavia, but they decided against it and decided to wait to get Austrian visas instead [2].

Bortkiewicz was finally able to settle in Vienna and was given Austrian Citizenship. He lived there for five years only to move back to Germany whence he was cast out again by the Nazis, which was a disaster for his musical career. The Nazis began deleting his name from programmes, and at the outbreak of World War 2, they destroyed many of his scores. He returned to Vienna to stay, being kept afloat by his friend Hugo Von Dalen, thanks to whom, we still have most of Bortkiewicz's scores.

6 Lyrical Thoughts
0:00 - I. Andantino Cantabile - A nice, easygoing barcarolle. The dotted melodies, the grace notes, and the arpeggiated chords accent the serene melody while the texture in the left hand gently rocks. The B-section is tranquil and continues with the same mood with a somewhat quickened pace.

4:33 - II. Sostenuto assai - This piece bears all of the marks of Bortkiewicz's brilliant melodic piano writing that appears in his excellent set of 10 preludes (op. 33). There are repeated chords with changing melodic values, long melodies in the left hand that occasionally create bell-like sounds, ascending textures, and grace notes. The intensity builds slowly until the piece resolves on an unexpectedly dissonant chord that quietly introduces the coda.

7:23 - III. Allegretto grazioso - The alternating notes that carry the piece create an unbalanced feeling, but the melodic values keep it grounded. The whole piece is very grounded in the romantic era, but the melody itself sounds especially derivative.

8:43 - IV. Moderato, quasi improvisando - Coming off of a lighter piece, the moderato instantly evokes a more serious mood. The melody jumps between the ascending arpeggios to create a lovely duel between the two elements. Bortkiewicz's decision to send the final note of the figuration in the left hand down to contrast the upward melodic momentum reinforces the sense of dialogue. Bortkiewicz gives the middle section a Chopinesque nocturne treatment that then intensifies and climaxes, leading to the return of the A-section.

12:38 - V. Poco moto, con amabilita - A simple and extremely lyrical piece with no fancy virtuosity, just calm melodies. There is some interesting use of chromaticism sprinkled throughout, but it is there to amplify Bortkiewicz's characteristically breezy melodic approach.

14:40 - VI. Andante poco moto - The final piece echoes the first with rocking textures and calm melodies. The double grace notes do, however, inject more energy into an otherwise lethargic A-section. The middle section, like the 2nd piece, has more of Bortkiewicz's stylistic staples (16:20!). In the final piece, we get a tasty climax with octaves appearing over arpeggios in true romantic-era fashion.

Bibliography:
[1] A. Kościelak-Nadolska, Życie i twórczość Sergiusza Bortkiewicza (1877–1952), cz. I – Sylwetka artysty,. „Notes Muzyczny”, nr 1 (5) 2016

The rest of the biographical info comes from Wikipedia