I was privileged to have been a personal friend of the composer and pianist Ronald Stevenson (1928-2015) for many years, and without doubt, he was one of the most profound influences on my development as a pianist and musician.
This Fugue was written in 1949 (when Ronald was 21 years old) to commemorate the centeneray of Chopin’s death. The “fragment of Chopin” on which the Fugue is based is taken from Chopin’s Fourth Ballade and is quoted in full in the slow central section of the Fugue.
Ronald always regarded this Fugue of his with affection. I played it to him on many occasions and he was always complimentary and encouraging.
I quickly took to performing this Fugue immediately after the Chopin Ballade itself, something that Ronald said he had never quite thought of doing himself – but when I put the idea to him, he simply said “why not?”. I was also privileged to have the opportunity of playing the much rarer two-piano version of this Fugue with Ronald during one of the many wonderful summer weekend workshops that the Ronald Stevenson Society ran over the years.
