[134] 18th-century instruments featured in Oct. 29 trio concert at MTSU

FOR RELEASE: Oct. 26, 2012

EDITORIAL CONTACT: Tim Musselman, Tim.Musselman@mtsu.edu or 615-898-2493

MURFREESBORO — The music of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven will be featured on the instruments of the composers’ own classical period in a free public concert set for 7:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 29, in Hinton Music Hall inside MTSU’s Wright Music Building.

“The instruments that we know today were altered significantly in the 19th century,” said Dr. George T. Riordan, director of the MTSU School of Music.

“Our artists will be recreating the style that the composers would have expected so the music may be heard in all its original color and clarity.”

One of the instruments featured in the concert will be the fortepiano, the late 18th-century forerunner of the modern piano. MTSU music faculty member Lillian Pearson will perform on this instrument, which was acquired a year ago by the School of Music.

Riordan noted that unlike later pianos with cast-iron frames built from the mid-19th century onwards, the fortepiano has an interior wooden frame and a simpler action. That creates a tone that is lighter and softer than its more familiar modern counterparts, he said.

Karen Clarke, a member of the faculty of the Blair School of Music at Vanderbilt University, will perform on a violin from the same time period. Nashville Symphony Orchestra member Christopher Stenstrom will perform on the period cello.

Pearson, Clarke and Stenstrom are also all members of Music City Baroque, Nashville’s period instrument ensemble. 

Music featured in the Oct. 29 concert includes Franz Joseph Haydn’s “Trio in E Major,” Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s “Sonata in F Major” and Ludwig van Beethoven’s “Trio in G Major.”

           

The trio also will perform in Nashville on Sunday, Oct. 28, at 8 p.m. in the Turner Recital Hall at the Blair School of Music.

For more information on any MTSU School of Music performances, please call 615-898-2493 or see the complete listing of concerts at www.mtsumusic.com at the “Calendar of Events” link.

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