Sacred music works for piano – Part I

The Piano Festival of the Greek National Opera Alternative Stage contributes to the solemn atmosphere of the Holy Week with two concerts of sacred music works that will be held in the historic and majestic hall of the Parnassos Literary Society.

The programme wanders through compositional concerns about the Divine, captured in transcriptions or original works for piano, from Renaissance to this date. Feelings of repentance, redemption, and expiation are evoked through the rich and multidimensional sound of leading pianists.

PROGRAMME:

1. Nikos Laaris

Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)

Die Sieben letzten Worte unseres Erlösers am Kreuze (The Seven Last Words of Our Saviour on the Cross)

1. Introduction: Maestoso ed Adagio

2. Sonata I: Largo – Pater, dimitte illis, quia nesciunt, quid faciunt

3. Sonata IV: Largo – Deus meus, Deus meus, utquid dereliquisti me

4. Sonata VII: Largo – In manus tuas, Domine, commendo spiritum meum

2. Stephanos Nasos

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)

Six variations on Salve, tu Domine by Giovanni Paisiello, KV398

Maurice Ravel (1875-1937)

Miroirs (The Mirrors)

La Vallée des Cloches (The Valley of the Bells), No. 5

Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992)

From Vingt Regards sur l’enfant-Jésus (Twenty Contemplations on the Infant Jesus)

1. Regard de l’Esprit de joie (Contemplation of the joyful Spirit), No. 10

2. Je dors, mais mon cœur veille (I sleep, but my heart keeps watch), No. 19

3. Charalambos Angelopoulos

Franz Liszt (1811-1886)

Les Cloches de Genève (The Bells of Geneva)

(Années de pèlerinage / Years of Pilgrimage, First Year, Switzerland)

Three Petrarch Sonnets

(Années de pèlerinage / Years of Pilgrimage, Second Year, Italy)

4. Apostolos Palios

Johann Sebastian Bach / Ferruccio Busoni

Toccata in C-major, BWV 564, 2nd movement: Adagio

Alexander Scriabin (1872-1915)

Piano Sonata No. 1 in F minor, op. 6

I. Allegro con fuoco

II. Adagio

III. Presto

ΙV. Funèbre

Parnassos Literary Society

The Parnassos Literary Society, the oldest society of Athens, is housed in one of the most prominent listed buildings of Athens at the Square of St George, at 8 Karytsi St. It was founded in 1865 in Athens by the children of numismatist Pavlos Lampros with the goal of contributing to the spiritual, social, and moral improvement of the Greek people through various events. Today it hosts a multitude of cultural events like concerts, recitals, choirs, book presentations, scientific conferences, corporate events and seminars. It also has a remarkable library and a painting exhibition with 250 works by Greek painters. The Parnassos Literary Society has been honoured three times for its work at the Paris International Exhibition.

First Sacred Music Festival info leaflet available to read and download here