Ursula Mamlok's SIX RECITAL PIECES FOR YOUNG PIANISTS, composed in 1981, as well as FOUR RECITAL PIECES FOR YOUNG PIANISTS, composed shortly afterwards in 1982, belong, no doubt, to the most fruitful and successful years of the composer.At the request of her friend, violinist and amateur pianist Lilo Glick, Ursula Mamlok wrote these pieces, which Lilo premiered at the Bennington Summer Music Festival of 1982.The exact dates of composition of each individual piece can be found in the original version of the score, showing the dates of THE RELUCTANT RAINDROP and ON THIN lCE were 10.28.1981, PASSING STORM CLOUDS and A CLARION CALL 10.29.1981 framing them, SUNRISE IN THE EAST and SUNSET IN THE WEST were added a month later on 11.23.1981. Small additions and corrections can be found in a 2nd copy, done during her visit toGermany in December 2005.Typical of Mamlok's musical language of these character pieces - written between the dodecaphonic works PANTA RHEI for violin, cello and piano of 1981 and FANTASIE VARIATIOATS for solo-cello of 1983 - is her use of extended tonality, intervals of diads, tritones, pentatonic scale structures, cluster chords, dynamic contrasts, the use of extremely wide ranges, rhythmic shifts, subtle use of pedalling, all playing an important role in this music.While each of these 6 miniatures, with their picturesque titles is in itself a self-contained character piece SIX RECITAL PIECES FOR YOUNG PIANISTS forms a cyclic whole.No doubt, the great variety inherent in these 6 miniatures will not only be stimulating, but also convey much enjoyment to the performing pianist.Dr. Dieter Michael Backes (Mainz, 2006) / Piano
