Back In 1963 A Wonderful Book Of Music Was Published: New Music For The Piano, And It Covered A Tremendous

Back in 1963 a wonderful book of music was published: New Music for the Piano, and it covered a tremendous variety of mid-century composers. I first came across, not the book, the recording of all the pieces in the book by the indefatigable champion of living composers: Robert Helps. I found it in my local public library at some point in the 1960s when I was a boy. I checked it out, took it home, played it over and over. I was especially taken by Leo Kraft’s Allegro Giocoso and Ernst Bacon’s The Pig-Town Fling. I’ve since come to love not only those but many other pieces in the book. I ordered the score through a local music store way back then (it took weeks and weeks to arrive) and tried to learn the pieces, though they were a bit too much for my tiny technique of the time. I've since found many, many other wonderful miniatures in this book. I lost my original copy, I do not know how, and the book seems to be out of print. However, of all places, B+N stocked it and at the original price! So here it is back in my paws. Wonderful.

I like this brief biographical assessment by Stephen Isserlis. I cannot say it represents my feelings exactly, as his Schumanning is much more mature, more ripened, than mine, but I'm in enough sympathy with the gist of it as an emotional level.

As promised, here is Mr Szokolay playing that delightful K.9 of Scarlatti. Whether or not it's everything you want it to be, it has some tight dynamic and juice: an enthusiasm for putting the key down into the keybed.

Possibly my favorite work of Schoenberg's, certainly right up there, and perfection in every way. I didn't altogether appreciate GG's performance when I first heard it 30 yrs ago or so. I was at that time under the spell of Charles Rosen's complete works performances. (And if I still had my copy of that out-of-print gem, I could talk more intelligently about it.) But I like this very much now, to say the least. Irrespective who you listen to, or play it yourself, this is 12-tone's apotheosis. Worth living for.

atonalitydotnet:

Glenn Gould - Schoenberg, suite Op. 25

Complete playlist: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMhNcmmMn0A&feature=PlayList&p=B7EA5853D24983FF&playnext_from=PL&index=0&playnext=1

I have a Nord too. I confess I like it.

thepianoblog:

I’m sick to death of every band that has a synth player using Nord keyboards. THEY ARE EVERYWHERE! I mean obviously they are good if people use them but it would be nice to see some diversity. At least Enter Shikari used Korgs.

The interesting Rihm, not often programmed (to my knowledge) in the US. I am unsure of the significance of his piano works in his overall body of work, but worth further exploration.

atonalitydotnet:

iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/no/album/wolfgang-rihm-samtliche-klavierwerke/id339117899

Spotify: http://open.spotify.com/album/5bP89P99fQrtVTAsTD39pX

Wolfgang Rihm: Piano works 1966 - 2000