2013 (appx. 10’)
Programme note:
Olga Jegunova is not only a remarkable pianist, she is also a very good and special person who, as a true and dear friend, had shown me extraordinary kindness at critical times. We heard Poulenc’s exquisite ‘Cavatine’ for cello and piano, and the opening chords made a deep mark on me. The realm of musical composition can be a place of solace, in which we can hear inevitable beauty and allow it to take over our very being. Olga needed a present, and she needed something to stop thinking about new music as ‘professional noise’, so I embarked on writing a series of pieces that contained all the elements of traditional songs that we associate with the likes of Schubert and Wolf. Melodies with harmonies. Strangely, I found myself composing pieces where the notes became rather hard to organize, tricky to get right. There was to be no ugliness, no harsh dissonance, just a natural progression from note to note or chord to chord where tensions could naturally increase or subside.
© Paul Max Edlin 2013
Perusal score available on request