The six "partitas" that Bach published in 1731 had the overall title Clavierübung (or "Fun at the Keyboard") and were really "dance suites." One must realize that much of the keyboard music that Bach wrote had one specific aim: to improve the keyboard abilities of both his wife and his children. (Since several of his children became major composers in their own right, Bach was a good teacher as well as transmitter of an appropriate musical genetic code!)

The "dance suite" of Bach’s time emerged from the era of troubadours who brought from land to land a great variety of music types. Dance rhythms moved from country to country and composers of the baroque period built their suites from these favorite dance rhythms. Bach introduces the Partita No. 2 with a Sinfonia (an overture with a fugal conclusion,) then he follows with the traditional dances. First, an Allemande, of German origin, somewhat stately in 2/4 time. (The name persists in square dance calling, e.g. "Allemande left with your left hand.") The Courante following, French in origin, is brisk (think of a "current" flowing at fast pace.) A Sarabande, slow and elegant with the emphasis on the second of three beats, came from the Spanish lands. The Rondeau following, though not a dance, prefigures the rondo (main section returning at end) form. Finally, a Capriccio, which is in fact a form of gigue (or English "jig") ends the Suite in merry form.

Beethoven’s thirty-two piano sonatas, the cornerstone of piano literature, are one of his greatest legacies. (I suppose one could say that his thirty-two sonatas are indeed "variations" on a theme!) Beginning with his first three piano sonatas, dedicated to Joseph Haydn in 1795, Beethoven throughout his compositional life composed sonatas that confirmed his growth as the "monarch of the piano." The Sonata in E-flat Major (composed in 1802) is considered by some as the first of the sonatas to pre-figure the great ones to come later, such as the Waldstein and Appassionata.

Few sonatas by anyone provide such immediate pleasure upon hearing it than this four-movement work. The first movement begins with a "quizzical" three-note theme that permeates the "easy-going" allegro movement. The second movement, "scherzo," could not be a happier experience with its frenetic movement forward, a staccato-like melody assuaged by slower, reflective moments. (It is this movement that has provided the nickname "The Hunt" for the sonata.) The third movement is a beautiful song, one of Beethoven’s loveliest. The fourth movement explodes onto the scene and with the left-hand’s consistent driving force, the movement has a sense of joy that makes the listener want to stand and shout "Bravo, Beethoven!"

In 1844 Frederic Chopin was in a downhill slide. His affair with George Sand was unraveling and his father died. Composing became very difficult, but he managed to assemble his third sonata, his last major work. Five years before he had published his second sonata, with the famed "Funeral March" movement. Critics then and now still fault Chopin on his ability to write a cohesive work with the name "sonata." Robert Schumann had said of the second sonata that Chopin had simply tied together "four of his maddest children." Like them or not, the works of the mature Chopin provide the listener with music of incredible beauty and lightness, but also (as in the beginning of the last movement of the B Minor sonata) power and drama.

With the 150th anniversary of Chopin’s death, this writer asked several musically knowledgeable persons the question: "What makes the music of Chopin so quickly recognizable?." The answers seemed quite pertinent: (1) Chopin’s melody line is always supremely clear and limpid, and (2) a hint of melancholy seems omnipresent. Another clue - his use of chromatic and/or arpeggio runs that add a filigree to the composition (as in the second movement of Sonata No. 3) What do you think gives Chopin’s music such identifiable qualities?

The first movement of Sonata No. 3 provides a variety of musical ideas, with one of those uniquely Chopin melodies central to it. The short second movement seems the most disjointed as the rapid piano fireworks surround a quiet center. The third movement might give one a sense of a solemnity with its somewhat slow march rhythm, yet the melodies, though perhaps nostalgic, are not sad. Without question, the final movement is the jewel of the Sonata. The music, from its first dramatic notes, is uplifting and the structure, an ABABA form, provides a satisfying conclusion to this work.

One hundred years ago, "The Waltz King" died. The last name you would think of for piano music is Johann Strauss, Jr., for he wrote none. But thanks to his friend, Alfred Grünfeld, a master pianist in Vienna, Strauss is with us today. The great piano teachers such as Franz Liszt and Theodor Kullak loosed upon Europe a gaggle of great pianists in the latter part of the 19th century. With the center of music being Vienna and with Johann Strauss Jr. rocking the rolling Danube with great melodies, these pianists wanted to play his melodies for the salon and the concert hall. Paraphrases of Strauss’s music abound (many written by the pianists themselves) and one of the finest was the Soirée de Vienne by Grünfeld. Its principal themes are from Strauss’s opera Die Fledermaus. The flourish with which the Soirée begins might even have been left over from Chopin, but the opulence of the entire composition could only be a reflection of the Vienna that turned the century a hundred years ago.

Anne-Marie McDermott is known for her "luminous, spontaneous playing" and her spirited, energetic performances as a soloist and chamber musician. She made her Carnegie Hall debut at age twelve and, like many a young professional, has several times substituted on short notice for ailing musicians, usually to rave reviews. Her 1997 debut with the New York Philharmonic also was hailed as an artistic triumph.

Ms McDermott has appeared as a soloist with many symphonies including Dallas, St Louis, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Atlanta, Phoenix, Seattle, San Diego, New Mexico, Tucson, Rochester, Chattanooga and North Carolina. Other orchestral appearances have been with Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart Festival, the Hong Kong Philharmonic, the Brandenburg Ensemble, Moscow Virtuosi, and with the New York Pops at Carnegie Hall. She has performed in recital at New York’s 92nd Street Y, Alice Tully Hall, the Kennedy Center, and in the Next Generation Series at Lincoln Center.

Anne-Marie McDermott is also well known to Danbury Concert Association audiences; she gave a solo performance in 1992 and returned in 1997 with The McDermott Trio, which includes her sisters Kerry, a violinist, and Maureen, a cellist.

Highlights of recent seasons have included a tour of Japan in collaboration with violinist Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, performances with the Detroit Symphony, Orchestra Atlanta, North Carolina Symphony, and recitals throughout the U.S.

Recognition received during her career includes winning the Young Concert Artists auditions, an Avery Fisher Career Development Award, the Joseph Kalichstein Piano Prize, and a Mortimer Levitt Career Development Award for Women Artists. She was also named an Artist Member of the prestigious Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.