SKU: BT.MUSM570365104

English.

George Nicholson 's ten minute 2013 piece Tronie , arranged for solo Piano. This solo Piano piece was written in 2013. It is a response to Rembrandt's astonishing portrait of his mother painted when he was in his early twenties and at a time when she would have been about sixty and therefore described as an 'old woman'. It may have been intended rather as a generic depiction of the ravages of old age a 'tronie' or genre painting but it strikes me as being a very moving and vividly characterised study of a real living individual, a penetratingly honest and unflinching portrayal at that. In Tronie I have attempted to make a musical statement about old age not only thefrailty, the loss of powers and the resignation, but also the pride and defiance of the old. The piece is dedicated to the memory of my mother-in-law, Andy Ginsborg, who died in February 2013. - George Nicholson.

SKU: SU.19010100

Nine pieces for solo piano Contents: Incantation I, The Dream of the Children, The Dream of Make Believe, Incantation II, The Dream of Flight, The Dream of Mother Earth, Incantation III, The Dream of the Silent One, The Wonder of Miracles Composed: 1993 Published by: Heart Earth Music Audio CD also available (#19019140).

SKU: HL.49047037

ISBN 9781705182024. UPC: 842819116998. 9.0x12.0x0.123 inches.

My father, Y. “Raghu” Raghunathan, came from India to the U.S. in 1963, followed soon after by my mother Sita. Dad enjoyed a substantial career as a pharmaceutical chemist, but he drew satisfaction from a simple life among family and friends, never allowing professional demands to overshadow his devotion to loved ones. Modest, compassionate, and ardently egalitarian, he was careful not to take anything too seriously, especially himself. He embraced his own ordinariness because it connected him to everyone else; it made him no better or worse than his neighbor, no more or less deserving of friendship or kindness than any of his fellow human beings. He showed us how to live with dignity, compassion, grace, and boundless love. His last piece of advice to me: “Go slow.” Several weeks after his passing, I happened upon a recording of Shostakovich’s 24 Preludes and Fugues, opus 87. I couldn’t understand why at the time, but the sixteenth prelude and fugue took hold of me and would not let go. I completely immersed myself in that piece for ten days, until it became a mystical conduit for something else: in this semi-trance state I produced a prelude and fugue of my own, in prayer (orison) and in praise (upastuti). It shadows Shostakovich’s form, but it somehow expresses my father’s unhurried, loving spirit. I’ve come to believe that he sent me this piece as a blessing. I hope you feel his presence in it as I do. Vijay Iyer.

SKU: HL.50600925

ISBN 9781495095320. UPC: 888680688592. 9x12 inches.

Composer Note: In 1990, after eight years in the United States, I wrote my first work for solo piano, titled My Song, commissioned for Peter Serkin. At the time, my primary compositional concentration was to develop a melodic and harmonic style within the boundaries of Chinese folk music, which are mostly in pentatonic modes, and contemporary Western Classical music. As a result, all the four movements in My Song were either based on existing Chinese folk tunes or written in their style. I was asked recently by another virtuoso pianist friend, Yefim Bronfman, to write a work for solo piano. After the passing of 17 years, I wonder if there is any change in my writing. I therefore titled the new suite My Other Song.

There are four movements in the composition, the first three of which are brief and provide contrast in character. The theme of the last movement, the longest, is based on a Buddhist chant heard at the wake for my mother in February 2005.–Bright Sheng.