George Templeton Strong Preludes pb Artis Wodehouse 1906 Clyde Fitch artcase piano at Piano Exchange

Описание: Artis Wodehouse plays five of George Templeton Strong's 1929 Piano Preludes on the Clyde Fitch 1906 artcase Steinway grand piano, with decorations painted on it by the American artist, Everett Shinn. The piano's original owner, Clyde Fitch (1865-1909) was a famous but now nearly forgotten playwright of great prominence. Fitch was an aesthete with broad connections to the world of the theater, literature (see for instance, Oscar Wilde), art, decorative art and music that preceded the shattering impact of 20th C. modernity. The instrument's current owner is Richard Smith, owner of the Piano Exchange in Glen Cove, Long Island New York.

Special thanks to Richard Smith for permitting the use and filming of this historic 1906 Fitch/Shinn artcase Steinway grand piano. Smith describes the instrument and places it in its historic context in "At the Piano Exchange Clyde Fitch unique 1906 art case grand piano painted by Everett Shinn Part 1":    • At the Piano Exchange Clyde Fitch unique 1...  

Clyde Fitch commissioned painter and illustrator Everett Shinn (1876-1953) to create decorations on the piano that related to his aesthetic interests and work as a playwright. For example, the piano's inner lid features an expansive depiction of the 18th C. French dramatist, Molière performing a play in the garden of Versailles. Shinn's decorations also depict Fitch's magnificent Connecticut homes and the Fitch family crest.

A near-contemporary to Clyde Fitch -- and while not a 20th C. modernist, -- Shinn has retained significance in the current art market. He had strong ties to the theater world of New York and London as well being active in book illustration. See his biography: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Everett...

Wodehouse plays five of American ex-pat composer George Templeton Strong's (1856-1948) twenty-five Piano Preludes. Strong assigns titles to each of these brief compositions that underscore the music's affect. Wodehouse has taken both Strong's music and their titles and linked them to Everett Shinn's artwork as seen not only on the Clyde Fitch piano, but also depicted in Shinn's other artwork and book illustrations.

Strong's 1929 Preludes reveal a composer of considerable craft and subtlety who completely assimilated the modern piano's sound vocabulary. Those performed by Wodehouse in this video:
00:00 Menuet
01:56 Danse des Morts
05:26 Drôle d'Histoire
06:31 La Grand’ Mère Espiègle
08:08 Le Chalumeau du Pêcheur

George Templeton Strong (1856-1948) was an American composer who spent most of his life in Switzerland. A close friend and musical colleague of Edward MacDowell, he shared with MacDowell the aesthetic of late-19th C. romanticism -- both literary and musical -- that preceded the overwhelming impact of slightly later composers such as Stravinsky and Schoenberg. As such, and due to his ex-pat status, Strong's work (he was also a professional painter) has been overlooked.
For a brief biography of Strong: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_...)
A full survey of Strong's life and work is found in "An American romantic-realist abroad : Templeton Strong" by William C. Loring.

Post production audio editing by Denise Barbarita. Photographer Geri Reichgut shared several still shots appearing in the video of the 1906 Fitch/Schinn piano .