Junyan Chen’s encore (Sun 13 Feb)

A number of audience members have asked about the encore Junyan played on Sunday. It was Dohnanyi’s Concert Étude No.5.

Ernst von Dohnányi (1877–1960) was a Hungarian composer, pianist and conductor who studied piano with István Thomán (a favourite student of Franz Liszt) and composition with Hans von Koessler (a cousin of Max Reger and devotee of Brahms).

He completed Six Concert Études, Op.28 in 1916. In Étude No 5 in E major, legato arpeggios are passed back and forth from hand to hand as they rapidly ascend and descend the full range of the piano. It was a popular showcase encore piece for pianists such as Vladimir Horovitz and Rachmaninoff.