I visited Bargemusic on May 5. It is a venue that I have known about since the fall of last year, but this was the first time that I went there. It is located right below the Brooklyn Bridge, on the Brooklyn side, by the Fulton Ferry Landing. Bargemusic offer concerts all year round, and it is conducted on a barge. Being on the water, it moved every once in a while, but according to the performers, it does move even more sometimes. Could you imagine a concert there on a windy and stormy night? I wonder if any concerts of their concerts are ever cancelled because of bad weather conditions.

Bargemusic offers free concerts every Saturday at 3pm, and the program is announced at the performance. The President and Executive & Artistic Director of Bargemusic, Mark Peskanov, opened with a story about Bargemusic’s history and its founder Olga Bloom, as well as other interesting details about the venue. Mr. Peskanov is also an award-winning violinist, and he kicked off the concert solo, playing one movement of a Bach prelude. The rest of the concert was performed by a combination of Peskanov, pianist Marie Wall, and singer Jane Libel. The pieces ranged from Bach to Debussy, along with a few French pieces, a few comical pieces in German and English performed by Libel and Wall only, as well as an aria from Mozart’s Il Re Pastore performed by the three of them, among other pieces.

I decided to review Claude Debussy’s “Clair de Lune,” which was performed by Marie Wall on piano. “Clair de Lune” by French composer Debussy (1862 – 1918) is one of his most popular pieces. However, it is not a separate piece by itself; it is one of the four movements in his Suite Bergamasque. The four movements of this suite are:

1. “Prélude”
2. “Menuet”
3. “Clair de Lune”
4. “Passepied”

According to Wikipedia, Debussy started composing parts of the suite in 1890, and he revised it until 1905 when it was published. The International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP) confirms the above information. Here is a nice YouTube clip of “Clair de Lune”:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlvUepMa31o

Marie Wall performed this piece excellently at Bargemusic. Her solo performance was very emotional, dynamic, and soft. The background behind her – the water and the Manhattan skyline – allowed the audience to daydream away to this peaceful music, like a beautiful sound-track to our daydreams.

On Youtube I also found guitarist James Edwards’ own version of “Clair de Lune”:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTJbLei7A2c

First of all, I love the visual representation of this version. It emphasizes the calmness of the piece. Both the music and the visuals are very calm and soothing. I picture this music as a part of a commercial, or a soundtrack to a movie. It makes me think of someone being confused, troubled, lost in life, or just in deep thoughts. As time goes on, and we move through the song, this imagined person finds peace with their situation, figures out a solution to their problem, and smiles.

Musically, this is also an excellently played version of “Clair de Lune.” I would love to see and hear the guitar version live as well, but one thing that really captured me when it comes to this video is the animation and how it emphasized the calmness of the piece. Overall, all three versions of this piece were well-executed and unique at the same time.

Bargemusic is a great venue; I recommend going to their Saturday free performances. You never know what to expect, since the program is not announced beforehand, but this could be exciting and spontaneous. Take a stroll by the water, check out the views, have some ice cream before or after the concert; it is a nice day-trip out there.

Finally, I’d like to end my blog by presenting another animated music piece, also by Debussy, in another both visually and aurally captivating presentation:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6s49OKp6aE