four commentaries, for piano and violoncello
DESCRIPTION
Nigel Morgan's Four Commentaries, study score. Parts available at www.nigel-morgan.co.ukTRANSCRIPT
Four Commentaries
for piano and violoncello
Nigel Morgan
This study score has been downloaded from the website archive of composerNigel Morgan. The PDF file is solely for personal study, repertoire research oreducational reference. It is not intended for use in public performance except ineducational situations when an extract is required for illustration purposes.
Performance scores and parts are available from Tonality Systems Press in twoformats: as standard printed and bound paper copies, and as PDF electronicmasters carrying a special electronic license for an unlimited number ofperformances over an agreed period. For more information please e-mailTonality Systems Press.
ISMN 979-0-57043-011-6 (Study Score)ISMN 979-0-57043-012-3 (Parts)
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Four Commentaries
for piano and violoncello
Nigel Morgan
About the music
During 2007 I had the opportunity to hear performances of three entirely differentcompositions of music for cello and piano: Shostakovich’s Sonata, AlexanderGoehr’s Fantasie and a revelatory performance of three of Beethoven’s CelloSonatas. Following the Beethoven experience I felt I could no longer sit on thefence deliberating about this challenging combination of sonorities and chose towrite a preliminary work that explored how my own musical preoccupationsmight react to the cello and piano duo.
Four Commentaries was written with Beethoven's F major sonata Op.5 No.1 openon my desk. On the first page of Beethoven’s score it became obvious thatsequential harmonic and melodic movement was something largely absent withinmy musical style. My first task was to attempt my own expression of suchsequential movement as a building block of a composition. Furthermore, acomparison with this early sonata and the mid period Op.69 in A Major showedthat Beethoven developed a sophisticated approach to voice exchanges, shifts ofregister, changing of rhythms and articulations. I have tried to follow a similarpath: the piece opening with the cello occupying the acoustic space between thetreble and bass registers of piano and then gradually exploiting all kinds oftextural relationships and combinations.
All that said the work is not a set of commentaries on Beethoven’s sonatas – thatis perhaps a project for the future. The subject of commentary here is the firstmovement of my own first Concerto for orchestra (2004). Each commentary looksat the melodic material of the music focusing in turn on a different musicalelement. These elements are expressed using the celebrated descriptions ofcomposer Sam Richards, descriptions I continue to find a source of inspirationand challenge. They provide a kind of subtitle to each commentary.
The work is dedicated to Martin Roscoe and Moray Welsh whose performance atthe Beverley Chamber Music Festival 2007 I was privileged to hear.
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