Brendan Fox: Piano

Pianist and composer Brendan Fox makes his New York performance debut with a lecture and recital of Charles Ives's Concord Sonata. In this monumental work, Ives crystallized the concepts of the Transcendentalist movement in nineteenth century America through musical portraits of Emerson, Hawthorne, the Alcotts, and Thoreau. The result is a tour de force of piano virtuosity, filled with mind-altering harmonies, Beethoven quotations, and moments of staggering power. The lecture preceding the performance is meant to illuminate both the musical materials and the philosophy behind this piece.