Piano
SKU:
BR.EB-9333
I The
sun, the sea - II The
earth: her dance - III
Clouds, winds, skies.
Composed by Christian
Mason. Solo instruments;
stapled. Edition
Breitkopf.
World
premiere of the piano
version: Orleans (8th
Int. Piano Competition of
Orleans ,,Brin d'herbe),
April 14, 2019
New
music (post-2000); Music
post-1945. Score.
Composed 2018/19. 28
pages. Duration 17'.
Breitkopf and Haertel #EB
9333. Published by
Breitkopf and Haertel
(BR.EB-9333).
ISBN
9790004187975. 9 x 12
inches.
Inspiring
Nature These three piano
pieces, composed for the
,,Concours, Brin d'Herbe
2019, may be performed
separately or as a
collection, in which case
they should be played in
the given order. Though
each piece is aimed at a
different technical level
(I. Elementary, II.
Advanced, III.
Intermediate), they have
a common artistic aim: to
connect musical
expression with poetic
inspiration. In
particular, these pieces
meditate on the emotional
connection between our
interior life and the
vast and varied
landscapes of the natural
world all around us.
While composing I found
myself re-reading
Kathleen Raine (one of my
favourite poets) and was
struck by her statement
(in the foreword to her
,,Selected Poems):
,,'Nature-poetry' is not
what we write about
nature, but rather the
language of images in
which nature daily speaks
to us of the timeless,
age-old mystery in which
we participate. Nature
communicates today what
it told the earliest of
humankind, and what it
will tell future
generations when our
modern high-rise cities
are no more. Meanings,
moods, the whole scale of
our inner experience,
finds in nature the
'correspondences' through
which we may know our
boundless selves. Nature
is the common, universal
language, understood by
all. What she says about
nature resonates with my
understanding of music,
which also sometimes
affords us an opportunity
to know 'our boundless
selves'. And I am
especially interested in
the way that sounds -
which, as vibrations in
the air, are another
aspect of nature - can
reveal and heighten our
sense of connectedness to
ourselves and our
surroundings. Each
movement is inspired by a
single stanza from the
poem ,,Amo Ergo Sum by
Kathleen Raine, and I
would encourage anyone
playing these pieces to
devote time to
internalising the words
as well as the music, for
they may contain the key
to an accurate
expression. As such, the
relevant words are quoted
at the start of each
score. ,,Inner Landscapes
is dedicated to Joe
Browning, Lexy Oliver and
Omar Shahryar. (Christian
Mason, 2018)
World
premiere of the piano
version: Orleans (8th
Int. Piano Competition of
Orleans ,,Brin d'herbe),
April 14, 2019.
Joe Oliver
