Ricardo Descalzo plays Crumb—“ Eine Kleine Mitternacht Musik”, an homage to Thelonious Monk’s “Round Midnight”

Spanish pianist Ricardo Descalzo plays “Eine Kleine Mitternacht Musik”, a nine-part suite/“rumination” by George Crumb, giving a nod to both Monk’s title and Mozart’s “Eine Kleine Nachtmusik.” Crumb is 1 of 21 contemporary composers commissioned by Italian pianist Emanuele Arciuli to write variations on “Round Midnight”.

The nine parts are titled Nocturnal theme, Charade, Premonition, Cobweb and Peaseblossom (scherzo), Incantation, Golliwog Revisited (burlesca), Blues in the Night, Cadenza With Tolling Bells, and Midnight transfiguration. “Cobweb and Peaseblossom” are two fairies from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream; “Golliwog Revisited” is a nod to Debussy’s “Golliwog’s Cakewalk”¹; and the original “Blues in the Night” was written by Harold Arlen, with Johnny Mercer supplying the flamboyant lyric. If you want further elucidation, you’ll have to check with George. Posted by Ricardo Descalzo

Descalzo, clearly a fan, says this of Crumb’s composition: “I waited a long time before I could publish this video that was recorded and edited a year ago. It is, undoubtedly, one of the indisputable masterpieces of the contemporary repertoire for piano. From the first to the last note, nothing is missing, nothing left, the perfection of a master in his maturity. A style carved for years, unmistakable from the first notes.”