Remembering Peter Serkin: Five Essential Recordings

The American pianist Peter Serkin passed away on Saturday after a battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 72.

Serkin was part of a distinguished musical lineage. His father was Rudolf Serkin, the legendary Bohemian-born American pianist and director of the Curtis Institute of Music. His maternal grandfather was the German violinist and conductor, Adolf Busch.

As if to throw off the burden of this heritage, Serkin was something of a musical maverick. Following his 1967 New York recital, New York Times music critic Harold C. Schonberg wrote, “Peter Serkin has the instincts of a rebel and a non-conformist.” A year later in 1968, after marrying and becoming a father, he quit performing, traveled throughout Asia, and settled in Mexico. He returned to the concert stage with renewed vigor in the winter of 1973. He joined violinist Ida Kavafian, clarinetist Richard Stoltzman, and cellist Fred Sherry in forming the chamber ensemble, Tashi. Serkin was a dedicated interpreter of 20th and 21st century music by composers including Schoenberg, Webern, Berg, Stravinsky, Messiaen, Toru Takemitsu, Peter Lieberson, and Stefan Wolpe.

Chopin: Nocturnes

Serkin made three all-Chopin albums between 1978 and 1981. His approach is distinctly intimate and contemplative. Here are six of Chopin’s 21 Nocturnes (00:00 No.4 in F Op.15/1, 04:19 No.5 in F-sharp Op.15/2, 08:05 No.8 in D-flat Op 27/2, 14:41 No.14 in F-sharp minor Op.48/2, 22:53 No.16 in E-flat Op.55/2, 28:55 No.18 in E Op.62/2). With these performances, we enter a dreamy and melancholy soundscape:

Schubert: March in G Major, Op. 52, No. 2.

During a 1988 concert, In Celebration of the Piano: A Tribute to the Steinway, Rudolf and Peter Serkin performed this charming excerpt from Schubert’s Three Marches Militaires for piano four-hands. Listen to the magical dialogue which unfolds between voices during this father-son duo: (Click on the link to watch directly on Youtube).

https://youtu.be/wlD9haP7g0g

Messiaen: Vingt Regards sur l’Enfant-Jésus

Here is the opening movement, Regard du Père (“Contemplation of the Father”), from Olivier Messiaen’s mystical Vingt Regards sur l’enfant-Jésus (“Twenty looks at the child Jesus”), written in 1944. Serkin made this celebrated recording at the age of 25. According to the New York Times‘ recent obituary,

In conjunction with the recording Mr. Serkin played the piece, from memory, more than two dozen times in concert halls and colleges, sometimes backed by a light show. Messiaen heard him play it at Dartmouth and was “really too kind,” the pianist recalled in the Boston Globe interview: “He told me that I respected the score, but that when I didn’t, it was even better.”

Takemitsu: Rain Tree Sketch II

Here is an excerpt from Peter Serkin’s 2000 album, The Ocean Has No East and West, a collection of twentieth century solo piano works. The Japanese composer Tōru Takemitsu wrote Rain Tree Sketch II in 1992 in memory of Olivier Messiaen. A quiet, haunting intensity pervades the piece amid jazzy, impressionist harmony.

Bach: Goldberg Variations, BWV 988

Peter Serkin recorded Bach’s Goldberg Variations five times. He made the first recording at the age of 18 and the last at 70. Perhaps this is a testament to the enduring, timeless quality of Bach’s music, which offers unending revelations.

After retreating from the concert stage and settling in a small, rural town in Mexico, Serkin heard a radio broadcast of the music of Bach wafting from a neighbor’s open window one day. It was a transformative moment. Serkin said, “It became clear to me that I should play.”

Bach’s mighty Goldberg Variations begin and end with the same simple aria in the form of a sarabande. Here is the Aria da capo e fine—the restatement which brings the work to a close with a sense of wistful nostalgia:

Recordings

  • Chopin: Peter Serkin Plays Chopin, Peter Serkin Amazon
  • Schubert: March in G Major, Op. 52, No. 2, Peter Serkin, Rudolf Serkin In Celebration of the Piano: A Tribute to the Steinway vaimusic.com
  • Messiaen: Vingt Regards sur l’Enfant-Jésus, Peter Serkin Amazon
  • Takemitsu: Rain Tree Sketch II, The Ocean Has No East and West, Peter Serkin Amazon
  • J.S. Bach: Goldberg Variations, Peter Serkin (1996 recording) Amazon

About Timothy Judd

A native of Upstate New York, Timothy Judd has been a member of the Richmond Symphony violin section since 2001. He is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music where he earned the degrees Bachelor of Music and Master of Music, studying with world renowned Ukrainian-American violinist Oleh Krysa.

The son of public school music educators, Timothy Judd began violin lessons at the age of four through Eastman’s Community Education Division. He was a student of Anastasia Jempelis, one of the earliest champions of the Suzuki method in the United States.

A passionate teacher, Mr. Judd has maintained a private violin studio in the Richmond area since 2002 and has been active coaching chamber music and numerous youth orchestra sectionals.

In his free time, Timothy Judd enjoys working out with Richmond’s popular SEAL Team Physical Training program.

2 thoughts on “Remembering Peter Serkin: Five Essential Recordings”

  1. This was very sad news, indeed. I had the privilege to attend a few of his performances. I will remember Peter Serkin and those happy occasions.

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  2. I remember, from a young age, his wonderful recording of he Schubert G major sonata which made a lasting impression on me. I felt he was one of very few who felt the pace effectively, especially of the first movement. No performance has satisfied me more since, and I do listen with an open mind. Sad that he is no longer with us.

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