Jackson Berkey's 24 Nocturnes

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Jackson Berkey's 24 Nocturnes Josef Raieff, Artist Teacher at The Juilliard School Jackson Berkey’s 24 Nocturnes bears a dedication to the memory of Josef Raieff, Berkey’s mentor at The Juilliard School in New York City. Whence comes this composer-pianist’s inspiration? Years of listening to music of the masters and studying piano with a master musician formed that anchor of knowledge in Jackson. Josef’s approach to the piano taught Jackson the passion, energy, sheer melodic beauty, and clarity of line heard throughout these 24 Nocturnes. Structural balance, pedalling finesse, tonal color, and dynamic control were an integral part of Raieff’s musicianship. There is no way to describe the depth of respect and friendship that Jackson holds for this incredible pedagogue. Born in Kharkov, Ukraine, Raieff’s lineage reaches back to Tchaikovsky via Alexander Siloti (teacher of Rachmaninoff) and to Liszt via Leschetizky and his pupil, Artur Schnabel. He also studied with Harold Bauer and Josef Lhevinne. Josef Raieff was the longest serving of the Juilliard faculty. During his tenure of 55 years, from 1945 to 2000, he educated hundreds of pianists in the “Russian School” tradition. The influence of this great artist teacher on Berkey’s career is ever deep and life-lasting. ~ Almeda Berkey Night Pieces – Nocturnes – have inspired beauty, romanticism, and deep expression in many composers. The writing of 24 Nocturnes was an exciting 7-year journey for Jackson Berkey, culminating in September 2014 with his Nocturne in C Minor. Following a harmonic path similar to Bach, Chopin, and Shostakovich, Berkey traverses the “Circle of Fifths”, alternating between 12 major and relative minor keys, with developments often leading him into modes. From an explosion of fireworks to the last smoldering ember, there is a Nocturne for every experience. Many of Berkey’s Nocturnes emulate existing keyboard works from some of his favorite composers of the last four centuries. Out of this fondness for numerous works of the masters came eight homages to composers. Several are referenced within the music as a point of direction. Jackson’s reach for meaningful poetry is shown in two homages to poets. One Nocturne was originally written for the harpsichord. One is a tour de force for the left hand alone. Emotions run the gamut from effervescent joy to gentle peace to fierce and dynamic rhythmic themes to sweeping and passionate melodies. A life’s study of drawing a myriad of colors from the pianoforte is evident in thesesolos. Berkey achieves much through careful notation – stemming and beaming; extensive pedalling notations; meticulus, if infrequent, fingerings; occasional extra staves for structural clarity; and the visual impact of meter. What pianists have had to decipher for themselves among historic publications, Jackson has clarified in the beauty and detail of his scores. Whether it be elegant introspection or soaring expressionism, the range of compositional temperament of 24 Nocturnes is matched by Jackson Berkey’s extraordinary development of piano resonance, color, technical force, and energy in his performances. ~ Almeda Berkey More information about Jackson Berkey, his printed music, and his CDs can be found on his website, www.berkey.com.

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