Violin
SKU:
ST.Y274
Composed by
Morgan Hayes. String
music. 3 minutes. Score.
Stainer & Bell Ltd.
#Y274. Published by
Stainer & Bell Ltd.
(ST.Y274).
ISBN
9790220223358.
1st
perf: Keisuke Okazaki,
Tokyo Opera City Recital
Hall, Tokyo, Japan, 22
April 2008
1st UK
perf: Darragh Morgan,
Schott Recital Room,
Bauer & Hieber,
London, 5 February
2009
Though the
jagged figures and
phrases of Lucky's
Dream by Morgan
Hayes are unmistakably
those of a contemporary
musical expressionist,
the shadow of Bach also
falls on this work,
inspired by the
virtuosity of the young
Japanese soloist Keisuke
Okazaki and his playing
of the E major
Partita.
In
fact, though 'standard'
contemporary techniques
are widely used in the
piece - left-hand
pizzicato, harmonics and
microtones, all deployed
in edgy, unpredictable
rhythms - there is also a
classical shape to the
structure. In this
two-part form, lasting
around four minutes, the
first section is
reflective, dwelling on
single notes, phantoms as
it were of pitches that
are subtly deflected
through slow glissandi.
Then a spectral dance
ensues, delivered largely
on plucked strings,
ethereal, disembodied,
strange.
The
'Lucky' in question is a
character from Samuel
Beckett's play
Waiting for
Godot, and
Lucky's Dream is
a complementary work to
the earlier, impassioned
Lucky's Speech
(2006). The two
items can stand alone or
may be performed
consecutively. Both are
to be found on the recent
all-Hayes CD released on
the NMC label (NMC D163),
which also features the
composer's 17-minute
Violin Concerto as
further evidence for his
original approach to
writing for the
instrument.
