Ludwig van Beethoven’s last piano sonata is particularly impressive, with its towering second movement pushing the limits of musical invention. The great German pianist Hans von Bülow, assistant to Franz Liszt and the first pianist to perform all Beethoven sonatas as a cycle, described the two movements of the sonata as samsara and nirvana. Liszt himself was very concerned with the meaninglessness of life in his famous Totentanz, a set of variations describing representatives of different social classes dancing towards their end with the guidance of Death itself. Originally a piece for piano and orchestra, Timothy Young and Emil Holmström will tackle it in a virtuoso arrangement for two pianists fighting for room in front of one keyboard.

The program also features Ilari Kaila’s Taonta (Forging). Kaila continues the tradition of Beethoven and Liszt in evoking beautiful sonic images derived from a thorough understanding of the keyboard and its possibilities.