FOUR ETUDES for piano (2020-22) | Frederick Viner скачать в хорошем качестве

FOUR ETUDES for piano (2020-22) | Frederick Viner

In late 2019 I set out to compose four piano Etudes as part of my doctoral research. Rather than focusing on specific pianistic patterns (scales, arpeggios, thirds etc.), I instead explored a variety of different compositional techniques and imagery, ranging from Ligeti's 'Tempo Fugue' concept in the 1st to astronomical and meditative metaphors in the 2nd and 3rd. The 4th, ‘Toccata’, serves as a bombastic finale to the set and a virtuosic showpiece in its own right. 1) Mirie it is - 00:00 My attempt at a Ligetian ‘Tempo Fugue’, with the titular English folk song as fugal subject. Initially presented alone - in 3 and in F-minor - the tune is soon joined by other versions of itself in different tempi and in different keys: the top stave contains the melody in 2 and in B-minor, whereas the bottom stave that enters in b. 13 sees it in 4 and in G-sharp minor (note the intervals separating these keys…). The piece carries on in this way throughout, the music growing ever more agitated as various conflicting voices tussle for tonal and metric supremacy, culminating in an enormous climax in which pretty much everything is obliterated (02:46). Wherever you look (or listen), you’ll be able to detect the tune. And depending on which strand you follow, the music will sound either faster or slower, or some heady combination of the two. Personally, I think this is pretty cool, even if it was a total nightmare to write… 2) Flyby - 03:46 A 'flyby' describes when a spacecraft passes in close proximity to a celestial body. Sometimes, this body (a planet, moon or asteroid) will be the sole focus of the mission. Frequently however, these curious, alien worlds will provide a gravity assist, which is used to slingshot the spacecraft on to some other, more distant destination. Mind-boggling feats such as these have long provided a source of inspiration for me. In this 2nd Etude, I attempted to channel this other-worldy inspiration to conjure up scenes of objects hurtling round space, accelerating and decelerating as they narrowly wizz past each other. Brian May quipped that “astronomy's much more fun when you're not an astronomer”. Well - I can confirm it's pretty fun when you are a composer. 3) Meditation - 08:08 I’m no expert at mindfulness meditation, and this is precisely what this piece is about. Everything starts off calm - arpeggiated flourishes ritualistically rise and fall like deep inhales and exhales. But other voices lurk in the texture, and as their chatter intensifies, the ‘breathing’ gradually becomes quicker and shallower. This builds and builds, eventually leading to the musical equivalent of a panic attack (10:16). Following this however, the ‘meditator’ seems to achieve the long-sought goal of a quiet mind: the breathing is now steady, and remains unperturbed by the presence of those pesky voices, which eventually, blissfully, fade away. 4) Toccata - 12:15 This 4th and final Etude, 'Toccata', stands apart from the previous three: there's no one technical idea tying it all together, nor is there any extramusical inspiration behind its conception. Simply put, I wanted to write something in the tradition of the great early-20th-century Toccatas - something virtuosic, tightly structured and (most importantly) fun. Whether I was successful in these aims is not for me to judge. Nonetheless, I think it may just be the best thing I've written. I hope you enjoy my performance recorded from July-August 2022, for which I used the Garritan Abbey Road CFX Concert Grand Piano Plug-In. Purchase the scores individually or as a set: https://frederickviner.com/list-of-wo...