Composer of the Week

*24.10.1925 Oneglia - 27.05.2003 Roma

"The truth, we cannot speak about, we must sing, we must say it in music. And with this I bid you farewell."

"Our relation to music must remain open, in a way. This is the privilege of music, not to let itself be formalized, to be locked in a certain procedure, in a certain way."
Luciano Berio

For Luciano Berio, music is an idea that can be physically experienced. His view of music is uncompromisingly aimed at the future. Berio's most important piano works include the late Piano Sonata (2001), the frequently played 6 Encores (1965-1990), the Sequenza IV (1966), the Concerto II for Piano & Orchestra "Echoing Curves" (1988-89) and the Concerto for 2 Pianos & Orchestra (1973).

Discover the PIANOVERSAL listening tips with piano music by Luciano Berio!

*17 June 1919, Petrograd - 22 December 2006, Petrograd

“It is difficult to talk about one’s own music ... my ability to compose music unfortunately does not coincide with the ability to write about it. There is, by the way, a commonly held view which says that the two are mutually exclusive ...” Galina Ustvolskaya

Galina Ustvolskaya was a restless creator. The elemental and the simple are just as characteristic in her music as the crazy outburst, the cry from the deepest soul. With idiosyncratic instrumentations she explored new combinations of sound. Examples include Composition I: "Dona nobis pacem" (1971) for piccolo, tuba and piano or Composition III: "Dies Irae" (1973) for 8 double basses, wooden cubes and piano. In her 6 sonatas for piano (1947-1988) Ustwolskaja pursued an uncompromising path with her pianistic materials for decades. Her Concerto for Piano, String Orchestra and Timpani from 1946 marks the beginning of her involvement with the piano.

“All who really love my music should refrain from theoretical analysis of it ...” Galina Ustwolskaja

Discover the PIANOVERSAL listening tips with piano music by Galina Ustvolskaya!

*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 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 !