Pianist and Cal Poly Music Professor W. Terrence Spiller will give a virtual recital which will stream at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 29, and will be available on demand through Feb. 7.

The first half will feature Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s technically demanding and humorous Sonata in F Major, K. 332; Maria Agata Szymanowska’s Nocturne in B-flat Major; and Maurice Ravel’s “Sonatine.” “Szymanowska was a significant influence on Frédéric Chopin and other Romantic-era composers,” Spiller said. “The inspiration for Ravel’s ‘Sonatine’ was a magazine’s composition competition. He would have won — as he was the only entrant — but his first movement was a few measures too long. It is a tribute to 18th-century elegance, style and structure.”
 
The second half will be Sergei Rachmaninoff’s “Moments musicaux,” Op. 16. Spiller said the 23-year-old Rachmaninoff wrote the piece rather quickly because he needed money. “The six movements represent a range of Romantic moods and styles and forms which feature feature special emphasis upon Rachmaninoff’s coloristic writing, his lyricism and his virtuosity.”

*The event link and password will be emailed the morning of the event.*


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