Piano

5.4.1869 Tourcoing  -  23.8.1937 Royan

Viele namhafte Musikerinnen und Musiker haben Uraufführungen von Albert Roussel gespielt, so etwa Alfred Cortot, Jane Bathori, Robert Casadesus, Serge Koussevitzky, Marthe Dron und Louis Fournier. Die Musik von Roussel behielt eine grosse Wirkung für nachfolgende Komponistengenerationen. Selbst Witold Lutosławski beschrieb den wichtigen Einfluss von Roussels 1. Symphonie auf seine eigene Musik.

Für Klavier schrieb Roussel ein eher übersichtliches aber abwechslungsreiches Oeuvre: ein kompaktes, packendes Klavierkonzert (1927), einige Solo-Werke und Kammermusik mit Klavier. Besonders bewegend ist seine kurze Komposition Acceuil des Muses (1920) in memoriam Claude Debussy.

Hier geht es zu den PIANOVERSAL Hörtipps mit Klaviermusik von Albert Roussel

5.4.1869 Tourcoing  -  23.8.1937 Royan

Many renowned musicians have performed world premieres by Albert Roussel, such as Alfred Cortot, Jane Bathori, Robert Casadesus, Serge Koussevitzky, Marthe Dron and Louis Fournier. Roussel's music had a great impact on subsequent generations of composers. Even Witold Lutosławski described the important influence of Roussel's 1st Symphony on his own music.

Roussel wrote a rather small but varied oeuvre for piano: a compact, gripping Piano Concerto (1927), some solo works and chamber music with piano. His short composition Acceuil des Muses (1920) in memoriam Claude Debussy is particularly moving.

Enjoy our PIANOVERSAL listening tips!

11 April 1916  Buenos Aires - 25 June 1983 Genève

Alberto Ginastera left behind many great works for piano and two piano concertos. His 1st Piano Concerto (1961) became famous not least through a rock adaptation of "Emerson, Lake and Palmer". Ginastera's intensive contact with Aaron Copland is also remarkable. It resulted in the composition of the "Doce preludios americanos" (1944).

Ginastera stands for a musical synthesis of South American and European music culture.

Listen to Alberto Ginastera's music, enjoy the PIANOVERSAL listening tips!

11. April 1916  Buenos Aires - 25. Juni 1983 Genève

Alberto Ginastera hinterliess viele grossartige Werke für Klavier sowie zwei Klavierkonzerte. Sein 1. Klavierkonzert (1961) erlangte nicht zuletzt Berühmtheit durch eine Rock-Adaptation von «Emerson, Lake and Palmer». Bemerkenswert ist auch Ginasteras intensiver Austausch mit Aaron Copland, der sich künstlerisch vor allem in den «Doce preludios americanos» (1944) äussert.

Ginastera steht für eine wegführende musikalische Synthese südamerikanischer und europäischer Musikkultur.

Hier geht es zu den PIANOVERSAL Hörtipps mit Musik von Alberto Ginastera!

*2.04.1947, Borlänge - 20.05.2013, Stockholm

„Substance, form, shape: all must form a single unified whole! If you try to divide them, you’re done for.”

"All the activities are always related to the same basis, the underlying harmonic flow. If you walk out in the noonday sun, you can see many things of all shapes and sizes everywhere, but they all relate to the sun. Because the sun is shining. It’s the same sort of connection when we talk about music. About the many occurrences and activities within a minimum of time.“
Anders Eliasson (interview with Christoph Schlüren, 1996)

In his music Anders Eliasson found his own, personal "alphabet", as he called it himself. Eliasson's music is shaped by a continuous coherence and a constant inner connection. He composed several pieces for piano, starting with the very expressive "Versione" in 1973, his "Disegno" cycle (1984-2005) being in the center of his output for piano and harpsichord. One of Eliasson's last compositions was his playful "Doppio Concerto" for violin, piano & orchestra (2005).

Enjoy the PIANOVERSAL listening tips with piano music by Anders Eliasson !

* 28. Juli 1925, Sofia  - 13. November 1997, Paris

André Boucourechliev gehört zu den wichtigen Akteuren der Zeit des Serialismus und der Aleatorik in Paris der 50er bis 70er Jahre. In seinen wichtigsten Kompositionen misst er den Interpreten entscheidende Freiheiten zu und führt sie mit wohldurchdachten Strukturen, Vorlagen und Anweisungen zu eigenen, spontan im Konzert entstehenden Lösungen seiner Musik, die in jeder Aufführung einmalig bleiben. Zu seinen wichtigsten Werken für Klavier zählen sein Klavierkonzert (1975), die 6 Etudes d'aprés Piranése (1975) und die verschiedenen mit Archipel I-V betitelten Werke in diversen Besetzungen. Neben seiner kompositorischen Tätigkeit war Boucourechliev auch als Pianist, Schriftsteller und Musikwissenschaftler tätig. Er schrieb unzählige Aufsätze über die Musik seiner Zeit aber auch Monographien über die alten Klassiker (z.B. über Schumann, Chopin und Beethoven).

"André Boucourechliev reste attaché tout au long de sa vie créatrice à une certaine poétique de l'indétermination - parfaitement compatible, selon lui, avec des formes fermées."
("André Boucourechlievblieb sein ganzes Schaffen lang einer gewissen Poetik der Undeterminiertheit verbunden - perfekt kompatibel, so seine Meinung, mit geschlossenen Formen.")Jean Ducharme (zitiert nach www.ircam.fr)

Hier geht es zu den PIANOVERSAL Hörtipps mit Klaviermusik von André Boucourechliev !

* 28 July 1925, Sofia  - 13 November 1997, Paris

André Boucourechliev belongs to the important figures of the time of serialism and Aleatorism in Paris of the 50s to 70s. In his most important compositions he gives the performers decisive freedom and leads them with well thought-out structures, models and instructions to their own spontaneous solutions to his music, which remain unique in every performance. Among his most important works for piano are his Piano Concerto (1975), the 6 Etudes d'aprés Piranése (1975) and the various works entitled Archipel I-V in various formations. In addition to his activities as a composer, Boucourechliev was also a pianist, writer and musicologist. He published countless essays on the music of his time as well as monographs on the old classics (e.g. on Schumann, Chopin and Beethoven).

"André Boucourechliev reste attaché tout au long de sa vie créatrice à une certaine poétique de l'indétermination - parfaitement compatible, selon lui, avec des formes fermées."
("André Boucourechliev remained attached throughout his creative life to a certain poetry of indeterminacy - perfectly compatible, in his opinion, with closed forms.")Jean Ducharme (cited from www.ircam.fr)

Enjoy the PIANOVERSAL listening tips with piano music by André Boucourechliev !

*06.12.1954, Schaffhausen

"Composing is a circling of a nucleus that one does not quite reach. In the end there is still dissatisfaction - that will then be the next composition."

"Art is world experience, is knowledge, is emotional education. But this also requires the awareness that some things have not yet been understood. That's how I feel. And that doesn't just apply to Contemporary Music. Even Mozart will never be fully understood."
Beat Furrer
(citations: Interview with Maria Scholl for APA, source: www.oe1.orf.at)

Beat Furrer explores music in all its sound spaces and expandings. Each work emerges anew from an attitude of exploring unknown possibilities. The piano is constantly an important theme in his works, both as a solo instrument and in chamber music. Among his most important piano compositions are the Piano Concerto (2007), Phasma (2002) and the "Drei Klavierstücke" (2003/2004).

Discover Beat Furrer's music enjoying the PIANOVERSAL listening tips!

20.10.1874, Danbury - 19.5.1954, New York

"Es kann nichts Exklusives an substantieller Kunst geben. Sie kommt direkt aus dem Herzen der Lebenserfahrung und dem Denken über das Leben und das lebendige Leben."
Charles E. Ives

Im Zentrum von Charles Ives’s Klavierwerken stehen seine Klaviersonaten. Berühmt ist vor allem seine Sonate Nr. 2 „„Concord, Mass. 1840-1860“) aus den Jahren 1916-1919. Aber auch seine monumentale 1. Sonate (1915-1916) und die exzentrische „Three-Page Sonata“ (1910-1911) sind ausserordentliche Solowerke für Klavier. In der Klavierkammermusik repräsentieren vier Violinsonaten, drei Stücke für Klavierquintett und vor allem das Klaviertrio (1909/1910, rev. 1915) Ives’ kompromissloses musikalisches Denken. Zahlreiche weitere kleinere Klavierwerke zeugen von seinem lebenslangen kreativen Erforschen des Klaviers.

Hier geht es zu den PIANOVERSAL Hörtipps mit Klaviermusik von Charles E. Ives

20.10.1874, Danbury - 19.5.1954, New York

"There can be nothing exclusive about substantial art. It comes directly out of the heart of the experience of life and thinking about life and living life"
Charles E. Ives

At the centre of Charles Ives's piano works are his piano sonatas. His Sonata No. 2 ""Concord, Mass. 1840-1860") from the years 1916-1919. But also his monumental 1st Sonata (1915-1916) and the eccentric "Three-Page Sonata" (1910-1911) are extraordinary solo works for piano. In piano chamber music, four violin sonatas, three pieces for piano quintet and above all the piano trio represent Ives' uncompromising musical thinking. Numerous other smaller piano works are evidence for his lifelong creative exploration of the piano.

Enjoy the PIANOVERSAL listening tips with piano music by Charles E. Ives!

 PIANOVERSAL Hörtipps: Charles E. Ives

"But maybe music was not intended to satisfy the curious definiteness of man. Maybe it is better to hope that music may always be a transcendental language in the most extravagant sense."
Charles E. Ives

Piano Sonata No.2, "Concord, Mass., 1840-1860" (1916-1919)
youtube_ives_conocord_sonata
Stephen Drury, piano; Jessi Rosinski, Flute

Three-Page Sonata (1910-1911, rev. ca. 1925-1926)
youtube_ives_threepage_sonata
Steffen Schleiermacher, piano

Study No.22 (1909)
youtube_study22_ives
Donald Berman, piano

Three Quarter-Tone Pieces for 2 pianos (1923-1924)
No.1 Largo: youtube_ives_quartertonepieces_1
No. 2 Allegro: youtube_quartertonepieces_2
No.3: Chorale: youtube_ives_quartertone_pieces_3
Alexei Lubimov & Pierre-Laurent Aimar, piano

Ives plays Ives - The complete recordings of Charles Ives at the piano
spotfy_ives_plays_ives

These recordings are extraordinary sound documents including all existing piano recordings by Ives himself!
This album was published by "Anthology of Records, Inc." (2006)

Trio for violin, piano, and violoncello (1904/1911)
1. Moderato: Ivestrio1.mp3
2. Presto (TSIAJ): Ivestrio_2.mp3
3. Moderato con moto: Ivestrio_3a.mp3

Trio Animæ: Tomas Dratva, piano; Jean-Christophe Gawrysiak, violin; Dieter Hilpert, violoncello
Recording: Bulle, Switzerland, 1997; this recording was published for the music label Cascavelle and is sold out.

„Majority“ (1921)
youtube_majority_ives
Robert Gardner, baritone; Eric Trudel, piano

„Songs my daughter taught me“
youtube_ives_songsmymothertaughtme
Mary Phillips, mezzo-soprano. J.J. Penna, piano
 

Many more information to be found at the website of the Charlers Ives Society:
http://www.charlesives.org/

Browse the PIANOVERSALRegister!

Charles E. Ives: composer of the week No. 23 / September 2018

Tomas Dratva - Pianist

Swiss pianist Tomas Dratva studied piano in Basel, Lucerne and London and gave his Début already during his studies with the Tonhalle Orchester Zürich in 1992. Since then, he has been performing regularly as a soloist and chamber musician in many countries around the world. He gave performances in concert series and festivals in Lisbon, Buenos Aires, Dallas, San Francisco, London, Paris, Berlin, Bonn, Basel, Lugano, New York City, Washington DC, Prague, Bratislava, Budapest, Weimar, Bayreuth, Stockholm, Minsk, Krakow and solo concerts with numerous orchestras: Sinfonieorchester Luzern, Tonhalle Orchester Zürich, Argovia Philharmonic, Kammerorchester Basel, Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra Košice, Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra Bratislava, Praga Sinfonietta, Russian State Philharmonic Orchestra Tomsk, Slovak Sinfonietta et al. In the years 1993-2010 Tomas Dratva was the pianist of the Trio Animæ. With this ensemble he performed more than 100 piano trio compositions.

Tomas Dratva is known to master a broad repertoire. The most important imperatives in his artistic activity are the search for new discoveries and re-discoveries, the study of contemporary music, and an in-depth occupation with historical pianos. He has been recording regularly for 20 years and published 15 CDs. In 2017 he founded PIANOVERSAL - the world's first purely digital music label and web portal for classical and contemporary piano music.

Tomas Dratva is an enthusiastic piano teacher and mentor. He lives with his family in Basel.

****
"Tomas Dratva holt das Maximum an Vitalität aus der Partitur heraus." (NZZ)

"...als würde Franz Liszt persönlich uns mit einem Klavierabend beehren." (WDR)

„Ein außergewöhnlich begnadeter Pianist von seltener Intelligenz und Empfindlichkeit.“ (Fanfare Magazine)

„Tomas Dratva est un pianiste superbe“ (RTS)

www.tomasdratva.com

Album PV 101 / Leoš Janáček - Piano Music / Tomas Dratva - piano
Album PV 104 / Esther Flückiger - LUMINESCENCE / several tracks (Klangysmbole I-V / Desert in mood / Vita A)

Buy the digital albums in our PIANOVERSAL Shop.

JEAN - JACQUES DÜNKI
Pianist - Composer - Researcher

Jean-Jacques Dünki was born in Aarau (Switzerland) in 1948. After school and early musical training he studied the piano in Basel, Berlin, Paris, Baltimore, New York and London. In 1981 he was awarded the Schoenberg Prize in Rotterdam. He leads a busy life as a concert pianist and teacher at the Music Academy of Basel. His numerous recordings include music from Reger, Zemlinsky, Schreker, Webern and Berg. Jean-Jacques Dünki is a member of the new music ensemble „opera nova“ in Zürich. In recent years, Jean-Jacques Dünki turned himself to historical keyboard instruments such as the clavichord and the fortepiano. As a composer, he is self-taught and his works, especially for keyboard and chamber music ensembles, are now being increasingly performed. His first book "Schönbergs Zeichen" came out in Vienna, 2006, his second, "Schumann interpretieren" in Basel, 2014.
www.dunki.ch

Album PV 102 / Jean-Jacques Dünki - POUR LE CLAVIER (2018)

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Duo Elisa Urrestarazu - Cornelia Lenzin

The Duo Elisa Urrestarazu (saxophone) and Cornelia Lenzin (piano) was created on the occasion of the presentation of their project «La senda de las emociones» in Málaga, a multidisciplinary show combining audiovisual, dance, electronic and contemporary music. At the same time they presented the program «Women composers», which consists of unpublished transcriptions for saxophone and piano, such as Rebecca Clarke's «Sonata» (1919). At the end of 2019 they released their first CD with works by women composers.
Committed to contemporary music and the empowerment of women in art, the duo plays newly created works and new versions by Jost Meier, Marcelo Nisinman, Balz Trümpy and Nelly LiPuma. They also play a large repertoire of standard works for saxophone and piano.

The Duo Urrestarazu - Lenzin appears in:

24 July 1880 Genève  - 15 July 1969 Portland

„Music, as well as other arts, ought to be an integral part of our lives. Every human being is entitled to share it’s beauty. I hold it of first importance to write good, genuine music, my music.“ Ernest Bloch

Ernest Bloch's own instrument was the violin. He composed a lot of chamber music, especially for strings and piano. His violin sonatas and the two piano quintets continue to enjoy great popularity. This also applies to several works for cello and piano (Shelomo, Méditation Hébraïque), which he originally composed for cello and orchestra. Bloch's most important piano compositions include his Piano Sonata (1935), the Five Sketches in Sepia (1923) and the Visions and Prophecies (1935). His piano music has its own signature: With its enormous richness of colour, it is always a nuanced walk between late romantic, impressionistic and expressionistic elements.
 

Enjoy the PIANOVERSAL listening tips with music by Ernest Bloch!

24. Juli 1880 Genève  - 15. Juli 1969 Portland

"Musik sollte, wie auch andere Künste, ein integraler Bestandteil unseres Lebens sein. Jeder Mensch hat das Recht, ihre Schönheit zu teilen. Ich halte es für wichtig, gute, echte Musik zu schreiben, meine Musik." Ernest Bloch

Ernest Blochs eigenes Instrument war die Violine. Er komponierte viel Kammermusik vor allem in der Besetzung für Streicher und Klavier. Seine Violinsonaten und die beiden Klavierquintette erfreuen sich nach wie vor grossere Beliebtheit. Dies gilt auch für etliche Werke für Violoncello und Klavier (u.a. Shelomo, Méditation Hébraïque), welche er ursprünglich für Violoncello und Orchester komponierte. Zu Blochs wichtigsten Klavierkompositionen gehören seine Klaviersonate (1935) die Five Sketches in Sepia (1923) und die Visions and Prophecies (1935). Seine Klaviermusik hat eine eigene Handschrift: Mit ihrem enormen Farbenreichtum ist sie immer eine nuancenreiche Wanderung zwischen spätromantischen, impressionistischen und expressionistischen Elementen.

Tauchen Sie ein in die Musik von Ernest Bloch mit den PIANOVERSAL Hörtipps!

*6.10.1959, Bern

The composer, pianist and improviser Esther Flückiger often expands her piano works with electronics, preparations or additional instruments, in recent years for example with the Hang, a percussion instrument, which she masters perfectly.

Each composition of Flückiger reveals its own imaginative and energetic cosmos and beauty.

Listen to Esther Flückiger's music, enjoy the PIANOVERSAL listening tips!

* 6.10.1959, Bern

The composer, pianist and improviser Esther Flückiger often expands her piano works with electronics, preparations or additional instruments. Each composition of Flückiger reveals its own imaginative and energetic cosmos.

In the composer of the week section you have the opportunity to get to know the great music of composer Esther Flückiger. Discover the popular PIANOVERSAL listening tips or browse the PIANOVERSAL Register!

Esther Flückiger & Friends

Esther Flückiger - Klavier, Hang; Jiří Němeček - Violine, Ludovic Van Hellemont - Klavier; Massimo Mazzoni - Saxofon, Rose-Marie Soncini, Flöte; Tomas Dratva - Klavier; Trio Flair: Stefan Läderach - Violine, Emanuel Rütsche - Violoncello, Esther Flückiger - Klavier

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Esther Flückiger & Friends

Esther Flückiger - piano, Hang; Jiří Němeček - violin, Ludovic Van Hellemont - piano; Massimo Mazzoni - saxophone, Rose-Marie Soncini, flute; Tomas Dratva - piano; Trio Flair: Stefan Läderach - violin, Emanuel Rütsche - violoncello, Esther Flückiger - piano

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Kammermusik und Klaviermusik von Esther Flückiger


Hier finden Sie zwei Hörbeispiele aus dem Album LUMINESCENCE von Esther Flückiger:

Drop_I_LUMINESCENCE.mp3

Klangsymbol_V_contrastar_LUMINESCENCE.mp3