COMPACT
DISC REVIEWCOMPACT
DISC REVIEW
By
Jack Rummel
Halley’s Comet: Around the Piano with Mark Twain
John Davis, piano
Mark Twain Quotation / Mark Twain mazurka / Mark Twain Quotation /The Banjo / Clara Clemens Gabrilowitsch Quotation / Petite Sérénade / Mark Twain Quotation / Nearer My God to Thee / Mark Twain Quotation / Piano Sonata in C minor (“Pathétique”) / Henry Holt Quotation / The Rain Storm / Mark Twain Quotation, Part 1 / Cyclone Galop / Mark Twain Quotation, Part 2 / Battle of Manassas / Mark Twain Quotation / Impromptu in A-flat major.
Mark Twain’s relationship with the piano is a curious one indeed. Publicly, he made nothing but derogatory statements about it, but privately, he was involved with the instrument, its artists, and he even played it himself, although not well. This puzzling conundrum is artfully explored in this new CD by John Davis, who gave us such masterful aural portraits as those of Blind Tom and Blind Boone.
As always, Twain’s quotations both amuse us and pique our curiosity. Why did he say that?? And what was he really saying?? Would he truly rather have a leg amputated than have to make small talk with a concert pianist? In his private life, his daughter Clara, who later would marry a Russian pianist and composer, describes her father’s almost grotesque approach to the keyboard as he entertained his family; later she would be encouraged to study piano and voice in Vienna.
Woven in and out of this unique view of Twain are the piano compositions that are associated with him: a mazurka named for him by Felix Kraemer; a descriptive fantasie of a banjo (his favorite instrument, he publicly claimed) by L.M. Gottschalk; a spiritual associated with the Fisk Jubilee Singers, a group which Twain actively promoted; three compositions by Blind Tom Wiggins, of whom Twain was a fan; and classical piano compositions by Beethoven and Schubert which were purported to be favorites of Twain.
This is a fascinating recording and not one to be played as background music, but one to be listened to and appreciated. It is not ragtime, yet it is obliquely associated with the early era, for Twain died in 1910. It might best be described as an adventure, with a 16-page accompanying “guidebook” and, of course, all the piano music superbly performed by John Davis. Come along, you’ll not be disappointed!
Available for $17.98 plus shipping from <www.amazon.com>.