One forgets world-class talent can be found in everyday spaces like public libraries on a Sunday afternoon. The Topeka & Shawnee County, KS Public Library for 50 years has presented Music for a Sunday Afternoon. The 2023 summer series opened on June 4 with Dr. Kristi Baker-Lampe’s piano recital. I went to the library expecting a summer music program in an air-conditioned space, I brought a much-needed cardigan, and was pleased with Baker-Lampe’s program.
Baker-Lampe is a natural educator. Delightfully, she spoke of the history of a piano piece and its composer before playing. Even if this information was known, the historical notes brought the collection of songs she presented into context. Baker-Lampe presented, with a light hand, a recital of Continental Spanish and Modern South American piano pieces, with pieces by Johannes Brahms and Frederic Chopin, respectively, as bookends.
The recital hosted the North American premier of Sergio Rene Martinez’s Sonate No. 5 “Tetrology of Nature”. In order of presentation, she performed Dominico Scarlatti’s Sonata K. 105/L. 204, then Antonio Soler’s Sonata R. 21, then Martinez’s Sonate No. 5. Martinez’s early 21st century South American sounding Sonate No. 5 stood shoulder to shoulder with the selected works of the two 18th century master composers.
Before performing the Sonate No. 5, Baker-Lampe explained Martinez strove to provide a musical impression of the natural world as it is now. Martinez also offers commentary on the ongoing ecological degradation of the South American ecosystems. Martinez successfully provides four distinct, auditory, panoramic snapshots in the tradition of Modest Mussorgsky’s 1874 piano suite Pictures at an Exhibition, which was later adapted for orchestra in 1922 by Maurice Ravel.
The first movement, “Minerals Notes” invoked the cold taste of rock and minerals of water from a Rocky Mountain spring located above the tree line that shoots like a fountain out of a crack in a cliff face. The opening comments by Baker-Lampe implied the intention of the first movement was to invoke the feeling of being immersed in a cave ecosystem. The sense of rocks, minerals, and water is within the first movement.
The concluding fourth movement was my favorite. If you have walked or rode a bicycle along a park pathway, foot, or animal trail that followed a stream, and listened to an intermittent stream flow over the stones, gravel, and through pools, you will know the theme of Martinez Sonate No. 5’s fourth movement.
The movement invokes the spirit of an evaporating stream. Intermittent by definition is a water body that does demonstrate constant flow year-round. In Northeast Kansas, certain named creeks and streams historically flowed year-round. With groundwater, spring, and surface water overuse, abuse, and a changing climate moving long-term, low rain contour lines, called isohyets, eastward, creeks and streams can now be classified as intermittent, and are without environmental protections.
The sound and sense of the water disappearing and appearing as it flows through the gravel and sand into an open space above bedrock and the water table is in the sound of the fourth movement. Martinez, through Baker-Lampe’s interpretation, invokes the beauty of the natural world. May what we the listeners do with this inspiration improve the world at least one small, patient, loving act at a time.
Did you know Chopin wrote a bolero? I did not know Chopin wrote a bolero. Chopin’s Bolero Op. 19 is rarely performed in the United States. Music purists can squabble over whether Chopin’s Bolero is a bolero, or a polonaise all they want. If Chopin calls the piece a bolero, I will honor his choice and call it a bolero.
Ending the recital with Chopin’s Bolero Op. 19 was a wise decision. Baker-Lampe’s internal musicality and deftness at the piano keyboard shined in her performance. Chopin is not for the faint at heart. Baker-Lampe hit the light notes of the piece, keeping the bolero fun and well balanced. The music selection and performance were enjoyable. Baker-Lampe provided thoughtful introduction and interpretation to each work. It was a satisfying way to spend part of a summer Sunday afternoon.
The next Music for a Sunday Afternoon is August 13, 2023. The Topeka Jazz Workshop is scheduled to perform 3 to 5 pm.
Check out the Topeka & Shawnee County Library for more music and Summer Reading programming.
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