Homage to Mixtapes: Pedja Mužijević, piano

In the 1970s, cassette players entered many households around the world. This was the first time we were able to record music at home and create our own playlists. Maybe some Mozart, a Dolly Parton song, and Steve Reich. Or Aretha, Wagner, and Peggy Lee. No algorithms, no rational explanations, just our personal choices. We called them mixtapes. This concert program, performed by the thoughtful, insightful pianist and Bay Chamber favorite, Pedja Mužijević, is an homage to that time.

The program is divided into three chapters that could fit on a 60-minute cassette. It ranges from the 18th century theatricality of Carl Philip Emanuel Bach and Joseph Haydn, a tipsy waltz by György Ligeti, tender memories of Valentyn Silvestrov from war-torn Ukraine and sonic explorations of George Crumb and Henry Cowell, to pulsating chords of Philip Glass and the passionate romanticism of Amy Beach.

“Every note Mužijevic played was engaging and had a direction in which it was moving, whether it resolved in a traditional way or hung in the air in conflict. The amount of joy he has in performing is absolutely palpable…” CVNC

Program

C.P.E. BACH Allegretto moderato from Sonata in G Major, Wq. 55/6 (1765)

GYORGY LIGETI Tempo di valse (poco Vivace – “à l’orgue de Barbarie”) from Musica ricercata (1953)

C.P.E. Bach Andante from Sonata in G Major, Wq. 55/6 (1765)

VALENTYN Silvestrov Serenade and Waltz of the Moment from Four Pieces, Op. 305 (2021)

C.P.E. BACH Allegro di molto from Sonata in G Major, Wq. 55/6 (1765)

AMY BEACH Ballad Op. 6 (1894)

PHILIP Glass Dreaming Awake (2003)

HAYDN Allegro from Sonata in E-flat Major, Hob. XVI/52 (1794)

GEORGE Crumb Pastorale (from the Kingdom of Atlantis, ca.10,000 B.C.) (1972)

HAYDN Adagio from Sonata in E-flat Major, Hob. XVI/52 (1794)

HENRY Cowell Aeolian Harp (1923)

HAYDN Presto from Sonata in E-flat Major, Hob. XVI:52 (1794)

Tickets: Age 35+: $38 | 22-34: $20 | 21 & Under: Pay What You Wish.