This event takes place at the Amherst Center for Russian Culture, 202 Webster Hall, on the main Amherst College quad, across the quad from the library.
WEBSTER HALL, 202
- Open to the Public
Famous in Russia at the beginning of the 20th century, and widely respected by the musical elite in France during the 1940s, the composer Thomas de Hartmann sank into obscurity following his death in 1956. Since 2006 the Thomas de Hartmann Project, under the direction of guitarist Robert Fripp and spearheaded by pianist Elan Sicroff, has been promoting concerts and recording the colorful music of this enormously eclectic composer. Their work is now beginning to bear fruit. In the Pioneer Valley alone, the public was treated last season to performances of the violin, cello and piano concerti, as well as vocal and chamber recitals.
De Hartmann was a founding member of the Blaue Reiter Group — the avant-garde in art and music — in the first decade of the 20th century in Germany, and was the painter Wassily Kandinsky’s closest friend. His works were performed in France in the 1940s by the greatest musicians of the time, including Pablo Casals, Jean-Pierre Rampal, Serge Koussevitzky and Leopold Stokowski.
In the upcoming lecture-recital, Elan will tell the story of de Hartmann’s life, his music and the ideas behind it. Vintage photographs will be shown, along with original sound files that feature recordings of de Hartmann himself playing. Recent recordings of the works for piano, vocal and chamber music, as well as orchestral works, will also be featured.
Following the lecture presentation, Elan will play piano works by de Hartmann that present the timeline of the composer’s development.
Contact Info
Amherst Center for Russian Culture
(413) 542-8204
@amherst.edu