THE CONCERTO FOR PIANO AND ORCHESTRA
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The pieces in Almost Songs were the second and third works I ever wrote. The first work was a set of five piano studies that I have played in concert, but not recorded. |
After I finished those pieces, in 1995, I decided I wanted to write a piece for piano and orchestra, to play it myself. I used 2 basic principles to write the piece: The first one was to use three themes of a different character and blend them into one piece, kind of like writing a three movement concerto in one.
The other was to make the melodies or their variations occupy the majority of the piece. I though of myself when I was 10 and how I enjoyed listening to the main themes of a work but no so much the development. I set out to write a piece with recognizable melodies in a modern idiom. |
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I wrote a two piano version in 1996, but left the orchestration until later to acquire more experience writing music for other instruments. I did write many other works, which include a string quartet and a trio for flute, oboe and clarinet before coming back and tackling the orchestration in 2005. I decided to use an orchestral idiom which is more dense than usual, with little melodies and patterns inside the orchestal texture to give it a more dissonant sound but, hopefully, more depth and richness which can be explored with time.
The CD was released in Dec 2008. Here are two excerpts from the piece
Here are the full contents of the three CD set. It is an assortment of all kinds of contemporary music from all over the planet. There is the atonal, the neoclassical, the political, the inescrutable, the simple, the energizing, the confusing, the sublime. I feel honores to be counted among the composers in this CD.
CD 1
FANFARE FOR A CITY Steven Winteregg
I FIORI DI SETA John G. Bilotta
ALLEGRETO- PIU LARGO - CON BRIO PIU GRAVE - VIVO
SYMPHONIC SUITE Dale Dykins
ALLEGRO TRANQUILO, ALLEGRO VIVACE ADAGIO (ELEGY) MODERATO, ALLEGRO VIVACE
FIRE AND INCENSE Todd M. Mastric
CONCERTO GAUCHO Kevin M. Walczyk
FIRE AND PEACE Tiffany M. Skidmore
THE MONK AND THE FISH Peter Michael von der Nahmer
FESTIVAL OVERTURE Jianjun He
CD 2
CHIAROSCURO Andrew Rudin
FANTASY- VARIATIONS ON A FRAGMENT BY ARNOLD SCHOENBERG Paul Siskind
CINDY, OH, CINDY David Nisbet Stewart
Piano Trio No. 2 - “HAIL TO THE CHIEF IDIOT” Roger Rudenstein
HAIL TO THE CHIEF IDIOT STATE OF THE UNION IT'S OUT OF CONTROL
ONE DAY Jae Eun Jung
MORNING NOON NIGHT
1st CONCERTO FOR PIANO AND ORCHESTRA Sergio Barer
CD 3
THE BATTLEOF ALEXANDER AT ISSUS Richard D. Hall
THE MACHINE Rhodell T. Fields
SPIRITUAL JOURNEY Ralph Russell
I AM A CORPSE Munir Beken
AVALANCHE Doug Gibson
DESIGNING A VIRTUAL REALITY LADNSCAPE THAT NEVER WAS Daniel
Steven Crafts
RIPPLE Douglas Knehans
INSIDER/OUTSIDER Amy Dunker
THE THIRD PART Paula Diehl
PART ONE PART TWO CLOSURE
MOVEMENT FOR SOLO VIOLIN, HARP AND ORCHESTRA Maria A. Niederberger
PHANTASMARob Redei