In Memoriam of Grammy winning pianist Peter Serkin (1947–2020), a “brilliant instrumentalist, sensitive, original interpreter and performer of uncommon vitality” (Michael Steinberg)
His complete legacy on RCA and Columbia/Sony, released between 1965 and 1996, in a 35-CD collection with facsimile LP and CD sleeves and a booklet with an appreciation by Jed Distler and full discographical notes.
“Thank you so much for your interest in my old recordings and for being so enterprising and bringing them out in a box set now. When I first heard about this project I thought that some of those recordings are not good enough […].
I have listened to [them] over the weekend, and I’ve had a change of heart about it. Even the ones I would not play that way now still may have redeeming aspects, and some of them I actually enjoyed quite a lot. …” – Peter Serkin
He achieved notoriety in America in the 1970s as the young, rebellious, hippie-clad scion of a legendary musical dynasty: the son of pianist Rudolf Serkin and grandson of violinist Adolf Busch. But before that, and far more significantly, Peter Serkin, born in New York in 1947 and a student of Mieczyslaw Horszowski as well as his father at the Curtis Institute, had already established himself as a prodigiously gifted pianist and musical thinker in his own right, regularly appearing from the age of twelve in solo recitals and concerts. At Rudolf Serkin’s Marlboro Festival, he played chamber music with his father as well as other pianists including Horszowski and Richard Goode, violinist Alexander Schneider and cellist Mischa Schneider. It was with them, starting in 1962, that he made his earliest recordings of concertos, sonatas and other works by Bach, Mozart, Schubert, Reger and Busoni for Columbia Masterworks, even playing harpsichord continuo in Pablo Casals’s famous set of the Brandenburg Concertos. In 1965 he began a long association with RCA Victor. Sony Classical is now proud to present all of Peter Serkin’s recordings for both labels in a single set.
Bach, J S: Goldberg Variations, BWV988
Schubert: Piano Sonata No. 18 in G major, D894
Bach, J S: Concerto for Three Keyboards in D minor, BWV1063
Bach, J S: Concerto for Three Keyboards in C major, BWV1064
Mozart: Concerto for 2 Pianos and Orchestra No. 10 in E flat, K365
Busoni: Fantasia Contrappuntistica
Reger: Cello Sonata No 4 in A minor, Op 116
Bartók: Piano Concerto No. 1, BB 91, Sz. 83
Bartók: Piano Concerto No. 3, BB 127, Sz. 119
Schubert: Piano Sonata No. 8 in E flat major, D568
Schumann: Waldszenen, Op. 82
Schoenberg: Piano Concerto, Op. 42
Schoenberg: Klavierstücke (5), Op. 23
Schoenberg: Phantasy for Violin with Piano Accompaniment, Op. 47
Mozart: Fantasia in C minor, K475
Mozart: Piano Sonata No. 14 in C minor, K457
Mozart: Fantasia (Prelude) & Fugue in C major, K394
Mozart: Piano Sonata No. 15 in F major, K533 / 494
Mozart: Fantasia in D minor, K397
Mozart: Rondo in D major, K485
Mozart: Rondo in A minor, K511
Beethoven: Piano Concerto in D major, arranged by the composer after the Violin Concerto, Op. 61a
Messiaen: Visions de l’Amen for 2 pianos
Messiaen: Catalogue d’oiseaux Books 1-7 (excerpts)
Messiaen: La Rousserolle effarvatte
Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 14 in E flat major, K449
Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 15 in B flat major, K450
Messiaen: Vingt Regards sur l’enfant Jésus
Messiaen: Quatuor pour la fin du temps
Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 16 in D major, K451
Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 17 in G major, K453
Schubert: Piano Quintet in A major, D667 ‘The Trout’
Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 18 in B flat major, K456
Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 19 in F major, K459
Stravinsky: L’Histoire du Soldat: Suite for violin, clarinet & piano
Stravinsky: Septet
Stravinsky: Pastorale
Stravinsky: Three Pieces for Solo Clarinet
Stravinsky: Suite italienne
Beethoven: Piano Quartet in E flat major, Op. 16
Beethoven: Piano Trio No. 4 in B flat major, Op. 11 ‘Gassenhauer’, for violin, cello & piano
Mozart: Clarinet Quintet in A major, K581
Mozart: Quintet for Piano and Winds in E flat, K452
Chopin: Variations brilliantes in B flat major on ‘Je Vends des Scapulaires’, Op. 12
Chopin: Nocturne No. 4 in F major, Op. 15 No. 1
Chopin: Mazurka No. 34 in C major, Op. 56 No. 2
Chopin: Mazurka No. 62 in A flat major, Op. posth.
Chopin: Mazurka No. 28 in B major, Op. 41 No. 3
Chopin: Mazurka No. 23 in D major, Op. 33 No. 2
Chopin: Mazurka No. 49 in F minor, Op. 68 No. 4
Chopin: Mazurka No. 5 in B flat major, Op. 7 No. 1
Chopin: Nocturne No. 18 in E major, Op. 62 No. 2
Chopin: Waltz No. 8 in A flat major, Op. 64 No. 3
Chopin: Trois Nouvelles Études: Étude in A flat major
Chopin: Prelude Op. posth. in A flat major (No. 26)
Chopin: Berceuse in D flat major, Op. 57
Chopin: Barcarolle in F sharp major, Op. 60
Takemitsu: Quatrain II
Takemitsu: Water-ways
Takemitsu: Waves
Chopin: Polonaise No. 7 in A flat major, Op. 61 ‘Polonaise-fantaisie’
Chopin: Waltz No. 4 in F major ‘Grande Valse Brillante’, Op. 34 No. 3
Chopin: Waltz No. 6 in D flat major, Op. 64 No. 1 ‘Minute Waltz’
Chopin: Waltz No. 11 in G flat major, Op. 70 No. 1
Chopin: Nocturne No. 5 in F sharp major, Op. 15 No. 2
Chopin: Nocturne No. 14 in F sharp minor, Op. 48 No. 2
Chopin: Nocturne No. 8 in D flat major, Op. 27 No. 2
Chopin: Impromptu No. 3 in G flat major, Op. 51
Beethoven: Diabelli Variations, Op. 120
Chopin: Mazurka No. 36 in A minor, Op. 59 No. 1
Chopin: Mazurka No. 37 in A flat major, Op. 59 No. 2
Chopin: Mazurka No. 38 in F sharp minor, Op. 59 No. 3
Chopin: Impromptu No. 1 in A flat major, Op. 29
Chopin: Ballade No. 3 in A flat major, Op. 47
Chopin: Nocturne No. 16 in E flat major, Op. 55 No. 2
Chopin: Andante spianato & Grande Polonaise, Op. 22
Webern: Quartet, Op. 22 for violin, clarinet, tenor saxophone and piano
Webern: Four pieces for violin & piano, Op. 7 (1910)
Webern: Variations, Op. 27
Webern: Three Little Pieces for Cello and Piano, Op. 11 (1914)
Takemitsu: Uninterrupted rests
Takemitsu: Piano Distance
Takemitsu: For Away
Takemitsu: Les Yeux Clos
Berg: Chamber Concerto for Piano and Violin with 13 Wind Instruments
Berg: Violin Concerto ‘To the Memory of an Angel’ (1935)
Lieberson, P: Bagatelles
Lieberson, P: The Dance
Knussen: Variations, Op. 24
Henze, H: Piece for Peter
Goehr: …in real time I
Lieberson, P: Fantasy Pieces
Berio: Six Encores: Feuerklavier
Kirchner, L: Interlude for Piano
Takemitsu: Les yeux clos II
Lieberson, P: Garland
Bach, J S: Italian Concerto, BWV971
Bach, J S: Goldberg Variations, BWV988
Takemitsu: Litany
Takemitsu: Uninterrupted rests
Takemitsu: Piano Distance
Takemitsu: For Away
Takemitsu: Les yeux clos I & II
Takemitsu: Rain Tree Sketch I & II
Lieberson, P: King Gesar
Bach, J S: Two-part Inventions Nos. 1-15, BWV772-786
Bach, J S: Duets Nos. 1-4, BWV802-805
Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 13 in E flat major, Op. 27 No. 1 ‘Quasi una fantasia’
Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 14 in C sharp minor, Op. 27 No. 2 ‘Moonlight’
Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 23 in F minor, Op. 57 ‘Appassionata’
Bach, J S: Brandenburg Concertos Nos. 1-6 BWV1046-1051