SHEFFIELD: University Firth Hall

TUE 12TH OCT, 2010 19:30

Peter Hill (piano)

Many consider the two books of the Well-Tempered Clavier to be some of the finest keyboard music ever written. Composed in 1722, Bach gave the present title to the work, which was composed "for the use and practice of musical youth eager to learn and for the amusement of those already skilled in this study." Well-Tempered refers to the new "equal-temperament" system of tuning, which allows a player to play in all keys without producing out-of-tune intervals. Both books consist of 24 preludes and fugues going through all the keys in ascending order, a total of 48 pieces in each volume.

Bach worked on the second book over a longer period of time than the first, completing the volume around twenty years later. As with the earlier volume Bach takes the keyboard player on an epic journey, with pairs of preludes and fugues in all the 24 possible major and minor keys. In Book II, Bach handles fugal form with astonishing freedom and originality, while many of the preludes are substantial pieces in their own right. This programme of highlights from the book include the three-voiced Prelude in C sharp minor, one of Bach's greatest slow movements, a trio of fugues in an archaic vocal style, the triple fugue in F sharp minor, and the monumental and thrillingly dramatic fugue in B flat minor.

Professor Peter Hill is a scholar and pianist working mainly in the contemporary and twentieth-century repertoires. In particular, he is an authority on Olivier Messiaen, with whom he studied during the last five years of the composer’s life, and is regarded as one of the world’s finest interpreters of Messiaen’s music. Called “one of Britain’s most outstanding pianists,” Hill studied the classical repertoire with Cyril Smith at the Royal College of Music (RCM) and with Nadia Boulanger. In recent years Peter Hill has become known for his important recordings of twentieth-century and contemporary music. His complete Messiaen cycle, released in a seven-CD set, was described as “one of the most impressive solo recording projects of recent years” by The New York Times. Messiaen himself wrote his own endorsement: “Beautiful technique, a true poet, I am a passionate admirer.” Current recording projects include the keyboard works of JS Bach and Beethoven piano duet repertoire.

“a dazzling display of both technical and intellectual brilliance”
The Guardian