Pieces of Old Photographs
2012
approx. duration 17 minutes
Instrumentation
Solo Piano
Movements
grand, open, and exposed (q=72) — people in motion (q=92)
peculiar (q=100) — cracked blue (q=96)
gentle and fair, soft focus (q=72) — the white spaces of her cheek (q=69)
sprightly (q·=152)
delicate fragment, a third (q=52) — two children (q=72)
dark shades of distant motion (q=66)
home (q=36)
Notes
Pieces of Old Photographs is not based on any particular set of pictures but was instead inspired by portions of several different images from early twentieth century photography. This series of character pieces plays on many of the traits found in those old black & white photos. Many are now faded, dried, smeared, smudged, faint, cracked, crumbling, or event burnt, with frayed edges and portions missing. Often, the images contain motion blur, are over/under exposed, or feature unnaturally stiff subjects. Some are of peculiar and inexplicable scenes, both staged and spontaneous, that are bizarrely intriguing to the modern viewer. And yet, old photographs always seem to evoke a sense of quaint nostalgia with familiar, yet distant, imagery. Pieces toys with these characteristics, offering snap-shots and snippets in a collage of musical ideas.
Additional Note from the Composer:
“I wrote Pieces while seated at my century-old, upright piano, and I have yet to hear a concert grand sound as good. The focus is on the intimate, delicate sounds of the piano, and this is best achieved by playing on a smaller instrument (like an upright) with listeners in relatively close proximity. The warmth and character of a well-worn instrument, often a little out-of-tune, adds a great deal of depth and beauty to this work.”