About 350 people on Sunday attended the Piano Summit concert held as part of the 10th International Music Festival in Phnom Penh.
Four artists—German pianist Stephan Rahn, French pianist Etienne Chenevier and Cambodian pianists Rong Sereyvann and So Sronos—performed a number of works by 20th century composers chosen to illustrate how Western classical music evolved over the course of the century.
As German composer Dieter Mack explained in a talk prior to the concert, in the past century there was not just one current in music development, but rather a multitude of composers who followed their own paths. For instance, Arnold Schoenberg of Austria searched for the essence of music, producing “soundscape,” while Gyorgy Ligeti of Hungary composed “reduced music” based on one to four notes, he said.
To enjoy such works, Mr. Mack told the audience, “Don’t try to understand the music. Just try to understand the mood.”
The concert, held as a matinee at the InterContinental Hotel, included short works by eight composers from five countries, the longest one being “Seven Mirrors” by Cambodian-American composer Chinary Ung, a 1997 piece with a rich musical landscape.
The program ended with “Countryside Evening” and “Cambodian Dances,” two lyrical works by Cambodian composer Him Sophy written around 1990 while he was studying piano and composition in Russia.
The festival, which began Thursday, ends tonight with a “Grand Finale” concert at 7 p.m. at the Cambodia-Japan Cooperation Center featuring the Angkor Youth Orchestra, the Phnom Penh String Orchestra, and the international musicians who have performed during the five-concert event.
