Kendall Ross Bean: Chopin Polonaise in A Flat

Kendall Ross Bean: Chopin Polonaise in A Flat is a short classical music video built around pianist Kendall Ross Bean's performance of Frédéric Chopin's Polonaise in A-flat. It became notable in the mid-1980s as an early example of a classical performance being presented through the emerging music-video format and distributed through American and Canadian television. The work was broadcast by the Arts and Entertainment Network, now generally known as A&E, at a time when music-video programming was strongly associated with rock and pop performers and major record labels. The video was produced in a partnership involving Polara, an independent record label, and Tele-Communications Inc.'s Televents community television operation in Lafayette, California. Producer Karen Earle Lile arranged the project, which was made in Televents' Original Local Programming Studio. Charles P. Shepler directed, while Lile also served as edit director. The production used two cameras and conventional cuts and dissolves rather than the elaborate visual effects and large budgets associated with leading contemporary pop videos. Its most distinctive visual feature was the exposure of the piano's action. Bean, who was also a piano rebuilder, rebuilt the vintage Mason & Hamlin piano used in the production and designed a glass enclosure that allowed the camera to show the hammers and other internal parts moving during performance. This transformed an ordinarily hidden mechanical process into a central part of the video and helped distinguish the work from a standard concert recording. The soundtrack came from Bean's 1984 Polara Records album Chopin-Granados. For filming, Bean finger-synchronized the recorded performance to each camera setup. He first duplicated the performance on the keyboard within the glass-box arrangement and then repeated it at the piano for other shots, using a storyboard to coordinate the separate sections. The finished video runs approximately six minutes and fifty-five seconds. The program received unusual attention because it applied the promotional logic of the music video to an independent classical pianist. A&E aired it in 1986, including a reported presentation to an audience of approximately 18 million viewers. The broadcast was paired with a repeat showing of Sergei Eisenstein's 1938 film Alexander Nevsky, whose use of montage provided a broader cinematic context for the music-video presentation. Excerpts were subsequently reported as appearing on television news and magazine programs and in newspapers while Bean was touring. The work also received industry recognition. Producer Karen Earle Lile was nominated for an ACE Award for Outstanding Programming Achievement in the Music Single category at the Ninth Annual System Awards for Cable Excellence, with the nomination ceremony held on May 18, 1987. The nomination placed a locally produced classical music video within the cable television industry's awards system, which had been created to recognize programming not covered by the Emmy Awards. The available material documents the video's production, broadcast and nomination history, but does not establish a current commercial owner, continuing distribution status or present-day availability.

The video's background reaches back to the relationship between live music and visual storytelling. During the silent-film era, pianists commonly performed live accompaniment for each screening, helping shape emotional interpretation, rhythm and dramatic meaning. Kendall Ross Bean was introduced to piano at age four by his grandmother, Knell Bean, who had worked as a pianist accompanying silent films. This family connection provided an early link between Bean's musicianship and the traditions of music accompanying moving images. Television later developed its own forms of filmed and broadcast musical performance. In the 1940s and 1950s, short musical films and televised concerts presented musicians in studio, nightclub and theatrical settings. Classical music and opera appeared periodically on American networks, while live performance broadcasts continued through the 1960s and 1970s. The distinct 1980s music-video form emerged when promotional films became more tightly edited, visually directed and integrated into record-company marketing. MTV's early programming made the music video particularly associated with rock and pop artists. The Kendall Ross Bean project applied this developing format to classical piano. The production was organized by Karen Earle Lile through a partnership between Polara, an independent record label, and Televents, the community television operation associated with Tele-Communications Inc. Filming took place at Televents' Original Local Programming Studio in Lafayette, California. The production was completed in 1985 and combined a pre-existing audio recording with newly filmed performance images. The selected work was Chopin's Polonaise in A-flat. The audio track came from Bean's Chopin-Granados album, recorded and released by Polara Records in 1984. Rather than record the entire soundtrack live during the shoot, the production used the album recording as the basis for a carefully synchronized visual performance. Bean listened to the recording and reproduced the fingering for each planned camera angle. The storyboard required him to repeat sections and briefly regain playing speed whenever a new setup was introduced. The video used two cameras, cuts and dissolves. Its defining production idea was to make the piano mechanism visible. Bean rebuilt the vintage Mason & Hamlin instrument used for the performance and devised a glass box around the removed action mechanism. The camera could therefore show the hammers and moving parts responding to the pianist's playing. The device offered viewers access to a normally concealed aspect of piano performance and gave the short film a visual hook beyond a conventional shot of a pianist at a keyboard. The completed program lasted approximately six minutes and fifty-five seconds. Credits identify Bean as performer and musical director, Lile as producer and edit director, and Charles P. Shepler as director. Lindsay Christensen served as assistant director, with Robb Barry, Christensen and Shepler credited for videotape production. Robert Schumaker handled audio recording, and Lisa D. Allen worked as video-production assistant. Charlie Gutierrez created the poster art, while Piano Finders received a special thanks credit. A&E broadcast the video in 1986, reportedly reaching about 18 million viewers. The material describes the broadcast as occurring on July 23, 1986, while other descriptions identify July 24; the exact date therefore requires source reconciliation. The program was paired with a rebroadcast of Alexander Nevsky, Sergei Eisenstein's 1938 film, whose montage editing offered a relevant cinematic parallel. Because classical music did not have a dedicated music-video television outlet comparable to MTV, the video circulated through general television programming and was reportedly excerpted by news and magazine programs and discussed in newspapers during Bean's 1986 tour. A&E planned to place the video in rotation alongside compatible classical programs for an extended period, reportedly up to three years. This was significant less as a conventional commercial product launch than as a distribution experiment: an independent classical recording and performance was being promoted through the same general audiovisual logic used by major-label popular music. The video's relative simplicity compared with high-budget rock productions was part of its historical context, but its unusual camera access to the piano's mechanism attracted broadcasters and awards attention. The project reached the cable industry's ACE Awards process. Karen Earle Lile received a nomination as producer for Outstanding Programming Achievement in the Music Single category at the Ninth Annual System Awards for Cable Excellence, with the nomination ceremony held on May 18, 1987. The ACE Awards had been established to honor cable programming after cable programs and performers were not routinely included in the Emmy system. The available references do not indicate that the production won the award. They also do not establish a later commercial release, a current rights holder, or whether the video remains available through an official channel.

• 1987

  ACE Award nomination

  [1]Kendall Ross Bean: Chopin Polonaise in A Flaten.wikipedia.org

  Producer Karen Earle Lile was nominated in the Music Single category for an ACE Award for Outstanding Programming Achievement.

• 1986

  A&E television broadcast

  [1]Kendall Ross Bean: Chopin Polonaise in A Flaten.wikipedia.org

  The classical music video was broadcast by the Arts and Entertainment Network in the United States and was reported to have reached approximately 18 million viewers.

• 1985

  Video production completed

  [1]Kendall Ross Bean: Chopin Polonaise in A Flaten.wikipedia.org

  Polara and Televents produced the short film at Televents' Original Local Programming Studio in Lafayette, California.

• 1984

  Audio source released on Polara Records

  [1]Kendall Ross Bean: Chopin Polonaise in A Flaten.wikipedia.org

  The soundtrack used for the video was taken from Kendall Ross Bean's Chopin-Granados album, released by Polara Records.

An early independent classical music video positioned between concert performance, music promotion and experimental television production. Its principal distinction was the visual presentation of the piano's internal action alongside Bean's performance.

• Classical music video · 1986

  Chopin Polonaise in A-flat classical music video

  A 6-minute-55-second audiovisual performance of Chopin's Polonaise in A-flat by Kendall Ross Bean. It combines an audio track from Bean's Polara Records album with filmed, finger-synchronized performance shots. The production's signature visual device is a glass enclosure exposing the piano's action, allowing viewers to see hammers and internal mechanisms move during the performance. The video was made with two cameras and edited with cuts and dissolves.

• Classical piano recording · 1984

  Chopin-Granados album audio track

  The source recording used for the video's soundtrack was drawn from Kendall Ross Bean's Chopin-Granados album, released by the independent label Polara Records in 1984. The available material identifies the album as the audio source but does not provide a complete track listing or current distribution information.

• 1986A&E classical music video television promotion

  United States · Canada

  The video was used as television promotional content for Bean's classical performance and was broadcast through A&E's music-video and compatible programming schedule. It represented an independent-label classical project using a promotional format most commonly associated with major-label rock and pop artists.

  Outcome. The broadcast attracted attention from newscasters, television outlets and cable-award organizations. Excerpts were reportedly shown by news and magazine programs during Bean's 1986 tour.

  Source

• 1985

  Use a visible piano mechanism as the video's central visual conceptProduct launch

  Background

  A classical piano performance needed a visual approach that could function within the emerging music-video format rather than simply document a concert.

  Action taken

  Bean rebuilt a vintage Mason & Hamlin piano and designed a glass enclosure for the removed action mechanism, enabling cameras to record the hammers and internal movement during the performance.

  Aftermath

  The exposed mechanism became the video's distinctive feature and contributed to the attention it received during television broadcast and awards consideration.

  Source

• 1985

  Repurpose an existing album recording for synchronized video productionStrategy

  Background

  The production sought to create a polished audiovisual performance with limited local-production resources.

  Action taken

  The project used the Polara Records album recording as its audio foundation, while Bean reproduced the fingering for each storyboarded camera setup.

  Aftermath

  The approach allowed multiple visual angles and repeated takes while retaining a consistent recorded performance.

  Source

1. 1Kendall Ross Bean: Chopin Polonaise in A Flaten.wikipedia.org