César Viana (b. 1963)
Piano Music
Piano Sonata No. 3, Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern (2020)
Piano Sonata No. 1, Old Folks at Home (2020)
Prime Rhymes (2018 – 2021)
Élégies (2012-2021)
Return of the Heracleidae (2014)
Carlos Marín Rayo (piano)
rec. 2024, Quinta Aumentada Studios, Montemor-o-Novo, Portugal
Toccata Classics TOCC0771 [68]
César Viana is a Portuguese composer, musician and musicologist. This new disc from Toccata Classics gives us the chance to hear for the first time on disc a selection of his consistently interesting and inventive piano music. Luís Pacheco Cunha’s interesting booklet notes tell us that Viana’s music reflects his interest in classical contrapuntal music, from Bach to Hindemith, while incorporating elements of Japanese and Arabic music, jazz and Iberian folk traditions. Viana himself was a répétiteur for part of his career, which he says shaped his technical and expressive approach to the piano and much of the music in this recital was written after his initial collaboration with Carlos Marín Rayo, the pianist on this disc.
The first two works on the programme are titled piano sonatas and recognisable as such. I get the sense Viana very much sees creative possibilities in aspects of form. Both also take inspiration from music of the past. The Sonata No. 3, dedicated to Rayo, is subtitled Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern and its fourth movement, Chorale, draws creatively on the theme of Nicolai’s Lutheran hymn in its fugal writing. Before then, there is an energetic first movement cast in sonata form, a cleverly displaced impression of bells in the second, entitled Carillon and an ingenious Scherzo where Viana manipulates two halves of a major scale in what he describes as ‘trompe-l’œil’ effect.
The Piano Sonata No. 1 uses Stephen Foster’s well known melody, the Old Folks at Home,and elements of it are discernible in all of the four movements. The Sonata is again notable for Viana’s ingenious use of form, particularly in the Minuet, very noticeably a Minuet, and the deliciously contrasted Trio where Foster’s tune features prominently. The appropriately virtuosic Toccata slightly subverts expectations with its rivetingly deranged opening until Foster’s theme breaks in again. It’s a thrilling three minutes of music.
Prime Rhymes, which follows the sonatas, is a set of short, brilliantly diverse piano pieces. Ajisai (the Japanese for ‘hydrangea’) employs harmonies derived from the interval structures of traditional Japanese scales. Sureñais is a lovely nocturne infused with an Iberian atmosphere. Bagatela was written as a tribute to Miguel Bustamante in 2018, and is centred on tritone-based harmonies, appropriately, as Bustamante’s most famous piano work is entitled Diabolus in Musica. It’s a resourceful and entertaining piece.
The two Élégies which follow are both beautifully crafted. O Maria, Deu Maire was written in memory of Maria Weissenberg (the daughter of Alexis Weissenberg) and develops a mediaeval Occitan melody which winds wistfully through its four minute duration. Pompe funèbre, composed as a tribute to the Portuguese jazz pianist Bernardo Sassetti, is a more austere piece which nevertheless radiates a touching poignancy.
Return of the Heracleidae was composed as a homage to Viana’s sister, the Hellenist Maria Mafalda Viana and is again dedicated to Rayo. Its three very short movements make extensive use of the Dorian scale and once more it’s fascinating to see how the use of this framework seems to have inspired Viana’s creativity. The work is animated by the Dorians of Ancient Greece who claimed they were descended from Heracles. The first movement Dorian March is a resourceful modern reimagination of a hackneyed form, sounding simultaneously ancient and new. Threnos, is as its name suggests, a lament by the Dorians over their failure to conquer Sparta and carries a powerful, sustained mood of desolation. Katienai alludes to the not strictly historical campaign to reclaim Sparta. It’s a brilliant Toccata, full of drama with a winding melody line starting in the lower register of the piano weaving through it like a resolute narrative.
In all of the pieces on the album Carlos Marín Rayo proves himself to be the perfect advocate for Viana’s music. There is a deep understanding of and commitment to the composer’s intentions grounded in the utmost sensitivity and technical control with virtuosity aplenty when required.
September will see the 20th anniversary of the launch of Toccata Classics. I’m one of many Music Web readers I’m sure who have Martin Anderson’s label to thank for broadening my horizons. There are nearly 800 Toccata releases now. I hope the next 20 years bring at least that number.
Dominic Hartley
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