Peter Cartwright Piano Recital

On Sunday, September 15th, at 3 PM we welcome to Northwards House the celebrated pianist Peter Cartwright. He will be presenting a recital featuring works by South African composer Alexander Johnson, Ludwig van Beethoven, and Franz Schubert.

Pianist Peter Cartwright frequently performs as solo and collaborative pianist, both locally and abroad. Recently, he has performed at festivals including the National Arts Festival, the Wakkerstroom Music Festival, and the FynArts Festival, as well as at the English Music Festival in Dorchester-on-Thames with violinist Rupert Marshall-Luck. Along with his regular partner, flautist Khanyisile Mthetwa, their album “African Bird” won two South African Music Awards in 2022 – for best classical/instrumental album, and best newcomer. Peter holds a PhD from the University of the Witwatersrand, having studied with Dr. Malcolm Nay and Pauline Nossel.

South African composer Alexander Johnson’s Three Incantations is a multi-movement work inspired by the music and sounds from around the African continent. Originally scored for solo piano, this work was also later adapted as the “Incantation Trio” for flute, clarinet, and piano. The Andante is imbued with the sounds of North-Eastern Africa, its haunting opening melody particularly reminiscent of the Arabian Peninsula. The very accented, percussive Energico takes as its inspiration the rhythmic feet stamping during dances from Central Africa, with the entire movement based on the four-note motive heard at its start. The Lento incorporates elements of jazz and classical music, using syncopation and often changing metres to create a sense of rhythmic ambiguity for the listener.

Ludwig van Beethoven’s Piano Sonata no. 21 in C, Op. 53 “Waldstein”, dedicated to his friend and patron Count von Waldstein, is acknowledged to be one of his greatest and most challenging piano sonatas. A notable work from his middle-period, it is with this sonata that Beethoven first composes for the use of an extended-range keyboard – the traditional five-octave instrument favoured by Mozart and Haydn, plus a major third (four semitones) higher. The “Waldstein” is unique for the full range of virtuoso keyboard effects that it employs, including sustained trills and octave glissandos in its final movement. Beethoven, fascinated by the sonority and resonance of the piano, employs the sustaining pedal not only through changes of harmony, but also through alterations between major and minor.

The three piano sonatas which Franz Schubert completed during his last months would remain unpublished for a decade after his death, only to be rediscovered as masterpieces by pianists in the 20th century. Of these, the Sonata in C minor, D. 958 stands alone from its two counterparts - perhaps most significantly for its choice of key. Well-known to have been an admirer of Beethoven’s works – those also in the key of C minor includes the Fifth Symphony, the “Pathétique” Sonata, the Third Piano Concerto, and the final Piano Sonata Op.111 – Schubert seems to have been inspired by his fellow composer’s treatment of this key to create a work filled with restlessness and conflict. Whereas this dark and oftentimes sombre mood prevails throughout the work, in the two later sonatas one encounters many moments of great beauty, joy, and “appearances of…uncomplicated happiness”.

Join us at Northwards House, Parktown on Sunday, September 15th, at 3 PM for an afternoon in the company of the world’s most beautiful piano music.