Spring is in the Air This Fall as Part of Beethoven Sonata on Oct. 13
Wed, 10/09/2013 - 04:17pm | By: Mike Lopinto
Parkway Heights United Methodist church in Hattiesburg will play host to Dr. Wayne C. Petty's public lecture titled: “Hearing Beethoven's Spring Sonata” at 6 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 13.
Following the lecture, Dr. Stephen Redfield, violin, and Dr. Rachel Heard, fortepiano, will perform Beethoven's Sonata No. 5 in F Major for Violin and Piano, Opus 24, “Spring.” Heard will then perform solo keyboard music by C.P.E. Bach: his sixth collection für Kenner und Liebhaber.
A replica of a fortepiano, an ancestor to the modern piano as well as an authentic 1750 violin will be used. The instrument resembles one that Beethoven would have used during his lifetime.
“The lecture will demonstrate how changes in technology, in this case the invention of steel and the steel-frame piano, affect culture and the arts” said Dr. Douglas Rust, event organizer.
Petty is a recognized expert in early sonata form and has written many articles on these and related subjects. He is currently an associate professor at the University of Michigan and has served on the editorial boards for several major journals. He is a board member and past president of the Academy of Early Music. With Judith V. Petty, he also operates Musicalia Press, an independent publishing company.
Heard has been an active performer on the fortepiano for over fifteen years and is currently an Associate Professor at Millsaps College. She has given numerous recitals throughout her career, demonstrating her talents on the fortepiano. A number of these have been aired on the Mississippi Public Broadcasting network. She has recorded the music of Haydn, which was recently released on the Naxos label. Her current recording project will include the six solo Fortepiano Sonatas, Op. 17 by Johann Christian Bach.
Professor of violin at The University of Southern Mississippi, Redfield, performs regularly as a Baroque violinist. He has led ensembles including the Albuquerque Baroque Players and Nashville's City Baroque. He has toured throughout the United States as well as Spain, Japan, and Cuba with the period performance group, the Sebastian Ensemble.
This free concert is sponsored by the Mississippi Humanities Council and is open to the public.