# 'Second Innocence' for two pianos



## Piers Hudson (Aug 2, 2020)

Over the last year, I have made a shift towards simplicity, classicism and emotional directness, and this recent piece is the closest I've got so far to achieving those aesthetic aims.

You can listen to it on SoundCloud:

__
https://soundcloud.com/piershudsoncomposer%2Fsecond-innocence-for-two-pianos-2020

Or watch the score video on YouTube:


----------



## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

It's pretty.


----------



## Piers Hudson (Aug 2, 2020)

Thanks! My pianists, Emilia De Geer and Jakub Sládek, were great to work with; during rehearsals they understood the aesthetic I was aiming for in the buildup to the concert (the details of which can be found in the links).


----------



## neofite (Feb 19, 2017)

Just curious – and forgive my ignorance, as I am not a real composer – but would this composition sound just as good if it had been written for a single piano instead of two?


----------



## Vasks (Dec 9, 2013)

neofite said:


> Just curious - and forgive my ignorance, as I am not a real composer - but would this composition sound just as good if it had been written for a single piano instead of two?


No. There are too many places that have 5-6 note chords spread far enough apart that 2 hands can't handle it and that spread is essential to the texture and mood.

The only things I missed in this piece were (1) for at least one place (even if only the last chord) where higher notes of the piano were used. The medium low tessitura was wearing out its welcome and (2) it wouldn't have hurt a time or two to break from the continuous quarter note pulse with a longer note value (IOW a half note placed either on beat two or beat three)


----------



## waldhoerer (Oct 12, 2020)

I like this piece - has a mood all of its own


----------



## Piers Hudson (Aug 2, 2020)

Vasks said:


> No. There are too many places that have 5-6 note chords spread far enough apart that 2 hands can't handle it and that spread is essential to the texture and mood.
> 
> The only things I missed in this piece were (1) for at least one place (even if only the last chord) where higher notes of the piano were used. The medium low tessitura was wearing out its welcome and (2) it wouldn't have hurt a time or two to break from the continuous quarter note pulse with a longer note value (IOW a half note placed either on beat two or beat three)


As well as the wide voicings, it also enabled more legato playing and voice-crossing, which is integral to the polyphonic texture.

I can partly understand your perspective when it comes to rhythm and register. However, I felt that I did vary the rhythm quite a bit during the piece; it follows a shifting, parabolic pattern of time signatures 4/4, 3/4, 2/4, 3/4 and 4/4, which each bring a different pulse and texture. Of course, it is all underpinned by a single quarter note pulse, but this is very much in keeping with one of the piece's big influences: Kurtág's arrangements of Bach, specifically 'Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit' at 6:06 in the video:






I suppose my piece does focus a lot on the middle-low register (even if only proximally at times), so I can't really contradict you on that point.


----------



## pkoi (Jun 10, 2017)

Very beautiful harmonies and nice interplay between the two pianos, congratulations! If you're about to have this re-recorded at a later occasion in a studio environment, I would personally mic both of the pianos separately and mix them a bit more to the left and right so that the polyphony would be heard even better.


----------



## Piers Hudson (Aug 2, 2020)

pkoi said:


> Very beautiful harmonies and nice interplay between the two pianos, congratulations! If you're about to have this re-recorded at a later occasion in a studio environment, I would personally mic both of the pianos separately and mix them a bit more to the left and right so that the polyphony would be heard even better.


Thanks, Pekka! Yes, this piece was recorded as a live performance at the Milton Court Concert Hall. I and five other composers composed new pieces for the concert, with each of us being grouped with two pianists. The sound in the hall is quite ambient, which works in its own right, but was not as conducive for the intimate counterpoint of my piece.

I would like to do a studio recording of in the future so that the intention of the piece can be fully realised.


----------

