Social Flutterby Joanne Polk

• David Shenton (b. 1975): 6 Musical Oddities, Op. 81:
• 1Shenton: 6 Musical Oddities, Op. 81: No. 1, Monkey Business02:17
• 2Shenton: 6 Musical Oddities, Op. 81: No. 2, In Full Swing02:36
• 3Shenton: 6 Musical Oddities, Op. 81: No. 3, Punch Line02:00
• 4Shenton: 6 Musical Oddities, Op. 81: No. 4, Gentle Misstep02:35
• 5Shenton: 6 Musical Oddities, Op. 81: No. 5, Broken Chords03:29
• 6Shenton: 6 Musical Oddities, Op. 81: No. 6, Social Flutterby02:48
• David Shenton:
• 7Shenton: Ballade for Piano, Op. 8011:22
• Piano Sonata, Op. 77:
• 8Shenton: Piano Sonata, Op. 77: I. Allegro09:44
• 9Shenton: Piano Sonata, Op. 77: II. Scherzo06:36
• 10Shenton: Piano Sonata, Op. 77: III. Romanza09:22
• 11Shenton: Piano Sonata, Op. 77: IV. Rondo09:22
• David Shenton:
• 12Shenton: Variations on "Santa Claus is Comin' to Town" (After Chopin, Coots & Gillespie)13:09
• Total Runtime01:15:20

Info for Social Flutterby

David Shenton's music has been described by critics as being immediately accessible, while maintaining immense depth, beautiful melodic writing, and incredible sophistication. There is something for every musical taste in these selections, brilliantly performed by pianist Joanne Polk. “Awesome on all fronts, Joanne Polk will engage and bedazzle like a mathematical puzzle in need of someone who can make a logical puzzle out of the notes with utmost care and consideration” (ConcertoNet.com). Joanne Polk is a member of the piano faculty of Manhattan School of Music, and is an exclusive Steinway artist.

About the music on this album David Shenton writes: "Many composers created so many wonderful forms of original piano compositions, yet I had never heard of nor played an “oddity,” so I wanted to create something new to add to the piano repertoire. The Six Musical Oddities, Op. 81 have a jazzy element to them. I wanted to convey a whimsical sentiment, to create piano music that is technically challenging and hopefully worth the effort.

I am a huge fan of Chopin and I’ve performed his first and fourth Ballades many times in public. The musical structure of these groundbreaking masterpieces is engrained in my subconscious so much so that this Ballade, Op. 80 follows a similar form.

The Sonata for Piano, Op. 77 is in traditional Romantic period sonata form, consisting of four separate movements: Allegro, Scherzo, Romanza, and Rondo. It is reminiscent in structure, of the great sonatas by Beethoven, Chopin, Brahms, and others from this period.

When composing Variations on Santa Claus is Coming to Town (after Chopin's Etudes), I wanted to incorporate the basic elements of the 24 studies, maintaining the integrity of the patterns, the technical intentions, and as many of the original harmonies as possible while trying to weave in the melody of this great Christmas standard. The Studies by Chopin are generally less melody​-driven than his other group compositions, such as the Preludes or Nocturnes, so in many ways, they are more adaptable to transcriptions, since one can play the studies with different harmonies​, yet they will remain recognizable as the Chopin Etudes. The true challenge of playing this piece, aside from the obvious technical difficulties, is the realization that a pianist will have to ‘unlearn’ the original studies."

Joanne Polk, piano

Joanne Polk
was catapulted into the public eye with her recordings of the complete piano works of American composer Amy Beach (1867–1944) on the Arabesque Recordings label. She celebrated the centennial of Beach’s Piano Concerto by giving the work its London premiere with the English Chamber Orchestra at the Barbican Center, under the baton of Paul Goodwin, and subsequently performed it with the Women’s Philharmonic in San Francisco, under conductor Apo Hsu, in a performance described as “brilliant” by critic Joshua Kosman of the San Francisco Chronicle. He lauded her performance as “an enormously vital, imaginative reading. Her playing was expansive in the opening movement, brittle and keen in the delightful scherzo. She brought a light touch to the foreshortened slow movement and fearless technical panache to the showy conclusion.”

As a result of her work to date, promoting the music of women composers, she was named one of Musical America’s Top 30 Professionals of the Year (2014) in an article titled, “Profiles in Courage.” In September 2014, Ms. Polk’s most recent CD, The Flatterer, solo piano music of French Romantic composer Cécile Chaminade, was released on the Steinway and Sons Label. The CD was a “Pick of the Week” on New York’s classical radio station, WQXR, and debuted at Number 1 on the Classical Billboard Chart.

Her first recording in the Amy Beach series, by the still waters, received the 1998 INDIE award for best solo recording. Empress of Night, the fifth volume of Ms. Polk’s survey of Beach’s piano works, includes the Piano Concerto with the English Chamber Orchestra, Paul Goodwin conducting. The sixth volume, Morning Glories, partners Ms. Polk with the Lark Quartet in three of Amy Beach’s chamber music works. Two all-Beach performances at Merkin Concert Hall, also with the Lark Quartet, were applauded by the New York Times, which praised Polk’s “polished and assured” performances. The American Record Guide reported, “Polk and the Larks played their hearts out. We in the audience shouted ourselves hoarse with gratitude.” Her 2007 CD titled Songs of Amy Beach, recorded with baritone Patrick Mason for Bridge Records, was nominated for a 2007 Grammy Award.

In 2010, Ms. Polk’s two-CD set of solo piano music by Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel, Songs for Pianoforte, was released on the Newport Classic label. Her solo CD, Fanny and Felix Mendelssohn, was released in 2012 on the Bridge Records label. Completely Clara: Lieder by Clara Wieck Schumann, her debut CD for Arabesque Recording, featuring Metropolitan Opera soprano Korliss Uecker, was selected as a “Best of the Year” recording by the Seattle Times and featured on New York Public Radio’s Performance Today. Ms. Polk’s CD for Albany Records, Callisto, features the solo piano music of Judith Lang Zaimont.

Joanne Polk received her Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees from the Juilliard School, and her Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Manhattan School of Music. She has given master classes at many summer festivals and universities across the country, including Summit Music Festival, New York Summer Music Festival, Montclair State University, Kutztown University, and the University of Minnesota. In August 2012, Ms. Polk was one of four directors who launched Manhattan in the Mountains, a three-week summer music festival in the Catskill Mountains, devoted to chamber music, solo performing, and community engagement.

Ms. Polk is an exclusive Steinway artist.

Booklet for Social Flutterby