Marc-André Hamelin: Dukas and Beethoven Pairing

This page is also available in / Cette page est également disponible en: Francais (French)

Marc-André Hamelin’s return to Montreal on March 12 will be a homecoming in more ways than one; not only will he perform for a hometown audience, which he fondly cites as “friendly and receptive,” but as part of the Pro Musica 2022-23 season, the concert will represent a collaborative relationship that has lasted for upward of 30 years. Hamelin has performed with Pro Musica in the Théâtre Maisonneuve, the Maison symphonique and, as will be the case later this spring, at the Salle Pierre-Mercure.

The first half of the concert will feature a masterpiece by Paul Dukas: his Piano Sonata in E-flat minor. Running approximately 45 minutes, Hamelin describes it as “one of the most glorious products of late romantic France,” and likens its nobility and seriousness to the works of César Franck. It is a “solidly tonal” work, says Hamelin, with mysterious activity in the third movement, as the Scherzo’s trio section descends into “disquieting, almost atonal regions”—this passage somewhat distinct from the rest of the piece.

Although not played very often, the piece (which is an homage to Beethoven) is sure to please audiences. Hamelin believes strongly in performing the works of lesser-known composers, and in programming these works alongside repertoire that sits comfortably within the western classical canon. “These pieces need to, and deserve to, be heard,” he says, and describes the experience of bringing lesser-known repertoire to new audiences as “uplifting.” “There are jewels out there that never get played,” and he hopes that the beauty of Dukas’s E-flat minor sonata is something listeners take home with them.

Hamelin will pair the Dukas sonata with Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 29 in B-flat major, Op. 106, also known as the Hammerklavier sonata. This “wonderfully monolithic piece” features “one of the longest slow movements Beethoven ever wrote.” Hamelin describes it as welcoming listeners into an “amazing oasis,” before thrusting them into the seemingly never-ending chaos of “one of the most demented fugues ever written for keyboard.” Having performed Opus 106 a great deal during the 2021-22 season, Hamelin has had the pleasure of spending a significant amount of time with the piece, and hopes to record it in the future.

A prolific performer, composer, and now teacher as well, Hamelin’s wide variety of musical activities have inevitably informed each other. He describes the benefits of composing as a performer, for instance, as “great and many,” citing the respect gained for composers and their notation, by way of writing his own music. Similarly, he points out the ways teaching has “forced him to look inward” and, in turn, taught him new things about his own performance work.