*LIVE RECORDING* Vincent Giza - The Metropolia (Ballade for Solo Piano) Op. 52

Vincent Giza (b. 2004) - The Metropolia (Ballade for Solo Piano) Op. 52
Composed from 5/6/2025 - 7/27/2025

intro - 0:00
Music starts at - 0:30

Piano - Vincent Giza (performed by the composer)

Video Courtesy St. Olaf College - Used by Permission

Fresh Ink Composition Recital - November 20th, 2025, 8:15pm CST
Urness Recital Hall - St. Olaf College
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Program note:

The Metropolia is a programmatic telling of the Russian colonization of Alaska, and the subsequent spread of Orthodox Christianity in America. “The Metropolia” existed as an administrative body of the Russian Orthodox Church primarily in North America after the Russian Revolution in 1917 and the subsequent severing of normal relations with the Moscow Patriarchate. This would eventually become known as the Orthodox Church in America, or the OCA. I, being Catholic, have no affiliation with the Orthodox church, though I do find their history fascinating and I hold them in high regard, especially due to their similarity to Catholicism.

The piece also references the popular Eastern Orthodox chant “Christ is Arisen” featured most popularly in Rimsky Korsakov’s Russian Easter Festival Overture.

This piece started as an assignment for Dr. David Castro’s MUSIC 214 post tonal theory. It began as just one page, one minute long. For the second assignment, I expanded the piece to be 3 minutes. Over the summer, I expanded the piece even more to be a full 10 minute ballade with an explosive coda.

I dedicate this piece to Nicholas Sokolov

Христос Воскресе из мертвых смертию смерт поправ е сусчеем во гровет живот даровав!