During this time of social distancing, the arts can feed our souls.

Rebecca Mitchell is sharing audio recordings of a trio of her performances, along with program notes on the pieces and visuals. We hope they bring you comfort, calm, joy, and renewal.

Installment #3 –   “Major and Minor Thirds” from Six Etudes, op.111, no.1 (1899)  Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921)

Originally  intended as a technical exercise, the piano etude was lifted to the  level of concert work by Frederic Chopin, whose 24 etudes each succeeded  in simultaneously isolating a single technical problem and offering a  profound musical masterpiece. Chopin’s influence is palpable in this  double-thirds etude by Camille Saint-Saëns. Saint-Saëns utilizes the  same right-hand pattern of double thirds employed by Chopin in his Etude  in g minor (op.25, no.6), with the added difficulty of a lower sustained note to the right-hand pattern. Like Chopin, the technical  problem serves as the basis for a profound musical reflection, and the  mood set by this work is both pensive and slightly melancholy.