Herbert Rogers, piano
Louise Talma writes:
“My second Piano Sonata was composed to unite tonal and serial elements in one work. In August 1944 I wrote the first nine measures and measures 36-39 of the first movement, and the first seven measures of the second movement. This beginning I had to set aside to do other things. In January 1952 I took it up again. By then I had become interested in serial writing and did not wish to return to an exclusively tonal style. But I liked those twenty measures, which are tonal, and wanted to use them. So I decided to combine them with a serial continuation (measures 31 ff.) and see what I could make of that. All the movements employ this procedure in some form or other. Subsequently I used it in other works, notably in my opera, “The Alcestiad”.
Roger Sessions (1896-1985) has been called, in an awed tone, the titan of American music. In From My Diary, however, he displays a more intimate side of his creative nature in four brief pieces. The pieces were his favorites among a series he wrote as a task he set himself to write one a day. Each one is dedicated to one of his pupils, more as a gesture than because of any deep, identification. Sessions did admit, however, that he dedicated each work to the pupil he thought would be able to play it.
Henry Cowell (1897-1965) composed such a large amount of music that treasures are still being discovered — and this despite his prominence that began when he unleashed his tone-clusters on an unprepared world as a very young man. Although he created many large scale works, (he wrote 20 symphonies) he was himself a pianist, and his piano music reveals some of his subtlest and wittiest thoughts.
The first six Ings were published in New York by Breitkopf and Haertel in 1922 and reissued by Associated Music Publishers in 1950. They are titled, Floating, Frisking, Fleeting, Scooting, Wafting, and Seething. According to a well established rumor, the seventh was rejected only because its title, Whisking, might be offensive during the years of Prohibition.
Donald Lybbert's Sonata Brevis was commissioned by the pianist, George Pappa-stavrou, completed in 1962 and premiered at a concert of the Contemporary Music Society in New York. The work is serially oriented. It develops two sharply contrasted musical ideas throughout the pitch and dynamic range of the piano. In a concert review, the Musical America critic commented on its “sensitive and unusual sense of sonority — sharply expressive — rarified, subtle and rewarding.”
This title, originally issued on the CRI label, is now available as a burn-on-demand CD (CD-R) or download in MP3/320, FLAC or WAV formats. CD-Rs come in a protective sleeve; no print booklet or jewel case included. Full liner notes are accessible via the link above.
Talma, Sessions, Cowell & Lybbert: Piano Works
| MP3/320 | $7.99 | |
| FLAC | $7.99 | |
| WAV | $7.99 | |
| CD-R | $7.99 |
A *.pdf of the notes may be accessed here free of charge.
Track Listing
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Piano Sonata No. 2: I. Allegro
Louise Talma
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Piano Sonata No. 2: II. Tranquillo
Louise Talma
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Piano Sonata No. 2: III. Allegro molto vivace
Louise Talma
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Piano Sonata No. 2: IV. Allegro energico
Louise Talma
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From My Diary: Poco Adagio
Roger Sessions
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From My Diary: Allegro con brio
Roger Sessions
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From My Diary: Larghissimo e misterioso
Roger Sessions
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From My Diary: Allegro pesante
Roger Sessions
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Episode
Henry Cowell
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Invention
Henry Cowell
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Six Ings Plus One: Floating
Henry Cowell
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Six Ings Plus One: Frisking
Henry Cowell
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Six Ings Plus One: Fleeting
Henry Cowell
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Six Ings Plus One: Scooting
Henry Cowell
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Six Ings Plus One: Wafting
Henry Cowell
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Six Ings Plus One: Seething
Henry Cowell
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Six Ings Plus One: Whisking
Henry Cowell
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Sonata Brevis
Donald Lybbert
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