Piano Pieces Vol II
SKU: HL.14042523
ISBN 9788759826911.
< strong>To Mediterrane Meditiationer / Two Mediterranean Meditations for Piano solo was composed by Per Nørgård in 1980. Dedicated Ragnhild Toft.
1. Græsk motiv (Greek motif) 2. Medstrømme (Cocurrent) The piano pieces (Two Mediterranean meditations) was inspired by a little town, Isternia, in the Greek island Tinos. During a stay there I was captured by the timeless peace that emitted from the shimmering white sculptured steps, and by the sounds in the narrow streets, creating an atmosphere of balanced activity on the background of a meditative silence. The pianopieces are related to the work “Isternia” (1979, for cimbalon solo, later rewritten for other instruments); the music seems to possess a certain timeless or rather ´genre-less´ character; this is effected through the use of archetypal melodies and meters changed in a rather ´cubistic´ way. In this respect the work is related to my “Sonora” (for flute and harp) and the duet “Medstrøms og modstrøms” (“Cocurrent & countercurrent”)&nb sp; Per Nørgård  ;
SKU: BR.EB-8993
ISBN 9790004187227. 9 x 12 inches.
The three piano sonatas by Joachim Raff (1822-1882), representing his three main creative phases, occupy a special position among his more than 100 piano pieces. They reflect a significant compositional aspiration whereas Raff otherwise frequently leans towards the salon-music genre in his piano music. Raff composed the early sonata op. 14 in 1844 after his first works were positively evaluated and Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy had encouraged him to venture a career as a composer. The Fantasie-Sonate [Fantasy Sonata] in d minor op. 168, Raff wrote in 1871 at the height of his fame as one of Germany's then most-played composers. Its dedication to Camille Saint-Saens shows his opposition to the rampant German disapproval of France and its music representatives in the wake of the Franco-Prussian war of 1870/71. The second version of the sonata op. 14, composed in the fall of 1881, had only the opus number in common with the earlier version. In this late work Raff had created an entirely new sonata. ,,Beautifully presented on cream paper, with exceptional clarity and generous spacing. The Fantasie-Sonate in D minor Op. 168, in particular, is a masterpiece which manifests both considerable power and exquisite craftsmanship. (www.pianodao.com).