New Music for Piano

God bless Canada’s support for the arts. This is great! Also thank Eve Egoyan for bringing us this beautiful impressionistic and minimalist piano music. My favorites are 4, 6, 5. Read on...

Michael Finnissy (1967-1989) – Strauss-Walzer
A collage of Strauss fragments resulting in a product that is very much like Debussy’s Preludes – impressionistic, wandering, and sweet.
*1. abstract, wandering, gorgeous, but somewhat long-winded. 2. more clearly pointing out the source, with Romantic cadences and melodic fragments.
3. washy beginning, then middle section with beautiful pauses, Romantic cadences at end.

Michael Longton – Piano Diary (1995)
***4. A playful and beautiful fantasy that is very imaginative and dynamic, always keeping your attention and never numbing your senses. I have to mention Toru Takemitsu for how painterly it is. I really like this piece!

Alvin Curran – For Cornelius (1981-94)
***5. It begins with a melodic, mournful waltz a la Chopin. The main section is a long, minimalist repetitive tremolo of slowly changing harmonies straight from Steve Reich or Phillip Glass. The pianist performs this section really effectively (Minimalist piano can be so boring if it’s played badly – don’t ever pay to see Phillip Glass perform). The brief ending chorale, relying on chord progression rather than on melody, is an appropriate closing for this requiem.

Linda C. Smith – A Nocturne (1995)
***6. Sparse and delicate. She pays close attention to registers, often pairing dark bass chords with higher registers. Beautiful blur at end, and in her own words, the piece is a continual state of “disappearing.”

Stephen Parkinson – Rainbow Valley (1995)
7. Thin experimental piece that involves non-traditional techniques of scratching and squeaking strings and letting tones resonate.... Too bad it’s so quiet, probably better live (or if you were doing it yourself).