St Bartholomew’s Hospital celebrates its 900th anniversary this year with events including a lecture series. At the end of our Barts 900 lecture, The Musical Heart, Elaine plays Ivan Tcherepnin’s Fêtes – Variations on Happy Birthday (1975) to thank the doctors and nurses at the Barts Heart Centre who treated her heart rhythm disorders some years ago.
Ivan Tcherepnin’s impressive piece not only turns Happy Birthday upside down and inside out and in combination, it spans a number of styles from chorale to jazz and the whole piano keyboard from the lowest to the highest note. The score was a gift from Sue-Ellen Hershman-Tcherepnin in 1998.
