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Études-tableaux Book II
36 pages
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297x210mm
978-0-19-358306-1
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Paperback
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23 August 2007
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This item is printed to order. Items which are printed to order are normally despatched and charged within 5-10 days.
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This sequence of five short movements may be played independently but would best be heard as the sequel and finale to Études-Tableaux Book 1 for piano trio, whose basic material it develops further.
The five movements are like snapshots of different landscapes whose associations trigger fleeting memories and images including shadowy allusions to Mendelssohn, Haydn, Liszt, plainsong and gypsy music. The title, stolen from Rachmaninov, suggests a balance between music both abstract and illustrative, virtuoso or dramatic.
Études-Tableaux Book 2 was commissioned by the Schubert Ensemble of London and made possible by financial assistance from the Arts Council of Great Britain. It was first performed by the Schubert Ensemble of London, at the
Wigmore Hall, London, on 9 April 1987. Forces or CategoryPiano quintet (violin, viola, cello, double bass, piano)Duration12 minutesDifficultyModerately difficultProgramme NotesÉtudes Tableaux Book 2, for piano quintet, is a sequence of five short movements with an introduction, links, and coda, in all lasting a little over ten minutes.
The piece may be played independently but would best be heard as the
sequel and finale to Études Tableaux Book 1 for piano trio, whose basic material it develops further.
As in the Trio there are a number of cross references, here enlarged by glances back to the Trio as well. The five movements (Allegro moderato - Presto - Allegro molto - Moderato) are like snapshots of different landscapes whose associations trigger fleeting memories and images including shadowy allusions to Mendelssohn, Haydn, Liszt, plainsong and gypsy music. Formally, they are highly compressed and closely worked - two related scherzi frame a central slow movement whilst the first and last movements have sonata and rondo characteristics respectively. Linking the movements is a developing 'narrative', for viola and double bass, which moves from the tiniest glimpse after the
first movement to a flamboyant cadenza at the end. These passages highlight a tendency in the piece for the ensemble to work as two layers - viola/bass duo and piano trio.
The balance, suggested in the title stolen from Rachmaninov, between music abstract or illustrative, virtuoso or dramatic, underlies all aspects of the composition. And following Rachmaninov's example I see no musical need to divulge the subjects of my snapshots.
Études Tableaux Book 2 was commissioned by the Schubert Ensemble of London and was made possible by financial assistance from the Arts Council of Great Britain. It was written between November and January 1986-7 and received its first performance by the Schubert Ensemble at the Wigmore Hall, London on April 9th, 1987.
©Anthony
Powers
Reproduced by permission of Oxford University Press
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Anthony Powers (b.1953) Born in London in 1953, Anthony Powers studied at Oxford, in Paris with Nadia Boulanger, and at York with David Blake and Bernard Rands. He taught for two years at Dartington College of Arts before being appointed Composer-in-Residence to Southern Arts. Since then he has moved to Herefordshire where he continues to divide his time between composing and teaching, currently at Cardiff University, where he has been Professor of composition since 2004.
Powers's music is characterized by strong architectonic frameworks that support a language of poetic intensity and magical sonorities. His music often takes its inspiration from the tension between different states, be they physical properties, landscapes, seasons or emotions.
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The specification in this catalogue, including without limitation price, format, extent, number of illustrations, and month of publication, was as accurate as possible at the time the catalogue was compiled. Occasionally, due to the nature of some contractual restrictions, we are unable to ship a specific product to a particular territory. Jacket images are provisional and liable to change before publication.
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