Trichord Preludes, Book I (2009)
For solo piano
Duration: 15 minutes
Six preludes out of a projected twelve
Partial premiere (Nos. 1 & 6): October 16, 2009
Lutkin Hall, Illinois
Jonathan Howard Katz, piano
Full premiere: April 25, 2012
The DiMenna Center for Classical Music, New York
Aaron Likness, piano
This work is available for retail purchase from Theodore Front Musical Literature.
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Program note: These early works of mine explore the possibilities in drastically restricting a piece’s harmonic language. A trichord is a combination of three different notes, and at their most fundamental distilation in Western tuning there are twelve different varieties of them. I wanted to create short works that would each explore a single trichord, with every single note mapped to an expression of that harmony. Within that basic parameter, I could explore all sorts of colors, textures, emotional states, and ways of writing for the piano. These are the first six of a projected twelve. The set begins with an expressionistic bang, passes through a mechanical study of layers, a perpetual-motion étude, a hazy landscape, and a jumpy character piece before ending with a meditation in memory of my mother.
Jonathan Howard Katz performs No. 6: