Suite à l’antique

for piano

Watch Michael Mizrahi perform Suite à l’antique

Program Note

Suite à l’antique is a collection of five movements loosely modeled on the dance suites of the Baroque era. Each movement is unique in character and affect, drawing on relationships to the traditional dance form in different ways. The first movement, Prelude, is a cascade of broken chords that drift lower and lower over a chromatic bass. The second movement, Pavane, though not traditionally found in Baroque suites, occupies a special place in the French dance literature. Movement three is a pair of minuets, played da capo, that perhaps more than the other movements, explores the traditional structure of Baroque dances. The fourth, Sarabande, is dark and foreboding and features a veiled quotation of Baroque composer G.F. Handel. Finally, the Passepied is a quick dance that brings the work to a lively close.