Bagatelle

Bagatelle was commissioned for the International Beethoven Project's 2012 Beethoven Festival, in which thematic material centered around Beethoven's Third Symphony Eroica. In this short, energetic work, one of the final sections of the Eroica Symphony is recast as a sonorous cloud of sound that coalesces into music that is spirited, rhythmically charged, and thrilling. In a concert premiere of 18 new bagatelles by various composers, it was Matheson's Bagatelle that music critic John von Rhein found of particular interest. The piece alternated material from the final movement of the Eroica with spectral and torrential washes of sound-think Franz Liszt playing Beethoven onhallucinogens. For advanced pianists.