PIANOFONICS (2002)
PIANOFONICS (2002)
for piano and electronics
instrumentation: pno, elec
duration: 12 minutes
première: January 28, 2003, University of Music “Carl Maria von Weber” Dresden, Germany, Vito Žuraj – piano and electronics
Electronics produced in the studio for electronic music at the University of Music “Carl Maria von Weber” Dresden
Additional performances
Vito Žuraj – piano and electronics
ABOUT
What transpires when a composer and pianist, embodied within a single person, delves into the realms of electronic music? All sound material generated while producing of the electroacoustic facet of PIANOFONICS is derived from timbres produced directly by the piano. It was an altogether delightful experience discovering the vast reservoir of different and often surprising sounds that could be coaxed from within the instrument. Mostly, this involved doing anything and everything with the piano except playing on its keyboard. To counterbalance this, the electronic element is matched by a pianist performing a highly virtuosic part of their own.
The work unfolds as a constant dialogue between the electronic timbres and the piano. At the outset, a great cloud of electronic sound billows forth from the figures played by the pianist, kicking off an extensive and developing altercation between the live elements and their recorded counterparts. Presently, the pianist rolls up their sleeves and dives headlong into a cadenza, after which the work proceeds in sparkling timbres to its zenith, followed by turbulent passages from pianist and electronics alike. A slow build-up, drawing on all of the material presented up to that point, culminates in a final crash, the mighty reverberations of which then slowly die away into silence.
Alwyn Tomas Westbrooke
The work unfolds as a constant dialogue between the electronic timbres and the piano. At the outset, a great cloud of electronic sound billows forth from the figures played by the pianist, kicking off an extensive and developing altercation between the live elements and their recorded counterparts. Presently, the pianist rolls up their sleeves and dives headlong into a cadenza, after which the work proceeds in sparkling timbres to its zenith, followed by turbulent passages from pianist and electronics alike. A slow build-up, drawing on all of the material presented up to that point, culminates in a final crash, the mighty reverberations of which then slowly die away into silence.
Alwyn Tomas Westbrooke
