Composer of the Week

05.02.1907 Łódź - 17.01.1969 Warszawa

Grażyna Bacewicz was a remarkable and impressive composer. While she was a trained violinist and conductor, she was also an excellent pianist, as she played the premiere of her 2nd piano sonata herself. Bacewicz has always underlined her independence in her composing. Her changes in style, which she carried out in the course of her life, are remarkable, as the comparison of her Piano Concerto of 1949 with her Concerto for 2 Pianos from 1966 illustrates, a fact which she also describes herself:

"I divide my music into three periods – (1) youth – very experimental, (2) – inappropriately called here neo-classical and being really atonal, and (3) the period in which I’m still located. I arrived at this period by way of evolution (not revolution)." 1969
(source: Polish Music Center https://polishmusic.usc.edu)

In Bacewicz's piano music, in addition to the piano concertos mentioned above, the 10 Concert Studies (1956) and the 2nd Piano Sonata are among the highlights, in her chamber music also the two wonderful Piano Quintets (1952 & 1965) and numerous works for violin and piano.

Enjoy the popular PIANOVERSAL listening tips with Grażyna Bacewicz's piano music!

* 02.06.1976 Helsinki

The music of Tomi Räisänen is characterized by a great diversity, a huge spectrum of sound colors and rhythms and a distinct sensitivity to form adapted to each piece. With his gripping and imaginative music, the award-winning composer opens up a wide field for performers to experience very different emotional states and poetic allusions. Among his most important works for piano are his monumental piano concerto "Sublunar Mechanichs" (2011), the suite for piano "Ouvrez la Tête" (2004) and the Piano Quintet (2005). Räisänen also explores the horizons of unconventional sound production with the piano, best heard in the composition "Insiders" (2004), in which the inner life of the piano is imaginatively explored by 3 players. Elements of electronics are also important in his works, for example in "Dreamgate" for 2 toy pianos, a singing pianist and tape. The piano also plays an essential role in works for ensembles, for example the toy piano in the fabulous work "Die Sauna der 7 Brüder" (2010).

Enjoy the popular PIANOVERSAL listening tips with Tomi Räisänen's music!

22.01.1916 Angers - 22.05.2013 Paris

"Le travail de composition est quelque chose de très secret."  - "The act of composing is very secret."
Henri Dutilleux
(ciatation: Interview about his wife Geneviève Joy; source: www.ina.fr)

Henri Dutilleux is one of the most important French composers of the second half of the 20th century. His early music is characterized by a still neoclassical playfulness and lightness, while his later works convey a deep richness in sound imagination. Among his most important compositions for piano are his early Piano Sonata (1948) premiered by his wife, the great pianist Geneviève Joy, the 3 major Préludes (1973/77/88) and "Figures de Résonances" (1970) for 2 pianos. Probably the most frequently played chamber music work is his virtuoso Sonatine for flute and piano (1943).

Enjoy the PIANOVERSAL listening tips with the music by Henri Dutilleux!

*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!