Orchestra; Piano (Full
Score) - Grade 4
SKU:
HL.14048001
Full
Score. Composed by
Hans Abrahamsen. Music
Sales America. Classical.
Softcover. Composed 2016.
96 pages. Duration 1080
seconds. Edition Wilhelm
Hansen #WH32726.
Published by Edition
Wilhelm Hansen
(HL.14048001).
ISBN
9788759836880. 11.5x16.5
inches.
English.
Program
note: I was born with a
right hand that is not
fully functional, and
though it never prevented
me from loving playing
the piano as well as I
could with this physical
limitation, it has
obviously given me an
alternative focus on the
whole piano literature
and has given me a close
relationship with the
works written for the
left hand by Ravel and
others. This repertoire
has been with me since my
youth. My very first
public performance of one
of my own works was in
autumn 1969. The piece
was called October and I
played the piano with my
left hand and the horn,
my principal instrument
(the only instrument that
can be played with only
the left hand). Part of
the piece requires the
performer to play natural
harmonics of the horn
directly into the open
strings of the grand
piano to create
resonance. The pedal was
kept down by an assistant
lying on the floor.
Through decades the idea
of writing a larger work
for piano left hand has
been in my mind. This new
work is not written for a
pianist with only one
hand, but rather by a
composer who can only
play with the left hand.
The title Left, alone
contains all kinds of
references, not only to
the obvious fact that the
left hand is playing
alone. Left, alone is
divided into two large
parts, each consisting of
three smaller movements -
in effect, six in total.
The work was commissioned
by Westdeutscher
Rundfunk, and
co-commissioned by City
of Birmingham Symphony
Orchestra, Danish
National Symphony
Orchestra and Rotterdam
Philharmonic and written
for Alexandre Tharaud.
-Hans Abrahamsen.