# Masterpieces of the 21st-Century (Solo) Piano: One by One



## Selby

Building off of Alypius' previous threads, and using the same language/guidelines:

http://www.talkclassical.com/34057-masterpieces-19th-century-solo.html
http://www.talkclassical.com/34102-masterpieces-20th-century-solo.html

Let's bring it to the present in his honor:

WHAT ARE YOUR FAVORITE 21TH-CENTURY COMPOSITIONS FOR SOLO PIANO?

"
One proviso: Please recommend no more than one composition per post.

And please post comments about it -- brief ones, long ones, no matter. For example:
*What do you personally enjoy about it?
*What is a favorite performance of it?
*If you yourself are a pianist and have played it, what insight has playing it given you?
*If you have studied something about it, what insight has the reading about it given you?

NOTE: Why only one composition per post? I guess that I want to slow things down. I would like to savor each work. I plan to listen, as much as possible, to what people recommend. I generally don't find dashed-off lists very helpful. I find it more helpful if people advocate for fewer things and explain why. As for my own favorites, I'll post some of my own today and in the coming days. I hope others will do the same. Thanks.
"

Rest in peace Alypius, you will be missed.


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## Selby

Annie Gosfield (American, b. 1960)

Lightning Slingers and Dead Ringers, for piano and sampling keyboard (2008)
Lisa Moore, piano









You can listen to the full piece on the Bang on a Can website:
http://bangonacan.org/store/music/lightning_slingers_and_dead_ringers

"
Wondering where such an eclectic title comes from? A "Lightning Slinger" is an archaic term for a telegraph operator, and an apt simile for a pianist who translates musical ideas into an electric medium. This piece is performed on a piano and a keyboard sampler simultaneously, so that the pianist can use piano techniques and interpretive skills in both the acoustic and electronic realms. A "Dead Ringer" literally means an exact substitute of something. The dead ringers in this case are samples of piano sounds: the detuned, retuned, pinging, sliding, and rattling sounds are altered piano, prepared piano, and inside the piano techniques, which sometimes resemble guitar, bass, and even synthesizer sounds.
"

To my ears this is fresh, original, inspired; a masterpiece. The best type of organically combing piano with electronics.

I imagine it as a Robot having an repeating existential nightmare.

I imagine that Isaac Asimov would have loved this piece.

I love this piece.


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## tortkis

Jürg Frey (b. 1953): pianist, alone (2004) - R. Andrew Lee









You can listen to stream here.
http://recordings.irritablehedgehog.com/album/j-rg-frey-pianist-alone

Extremely austere, quiet, and sparse piano piece by a Wandelweiser composer. Despite of its length (2 hours), it keeps comfortable tension and does not feel dull or boring. Beautiful simplicity.


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## Selby

^ I look forward to hearing it. I'm a fan of R. Andrew Lee, he takes on unique projects; I've been listening to his recent recording of Duckworth's Time-Curve Preludes.


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## Selby

Anthony Pateras (b. 1979, Melbourne)

Block Don't Bleed / Bleed Don't Block (2012) for solo piano

played by the composer, 46:00
from Anthony Pateras: Collected Works 2002-2012









http://anthonypateras.com/blog/?page_id=6

Gramaphone: "This music is high-energy, high-velocity, shrill, uncaged."

From the liner notes:
"
With the piano, you don't have the option of having the timbre becoming the form. In the absence of preparations or stops, I become more sensitive to tessiatura. The more I practices, the more I realized that registration dictates the success of the material. In terms of the Sydney Festival concerts you hear here, I was always thinking about which register to do things in, because this seemed to hold the key to discovering fecund materials to explore.

These materials aren't absolute passages that I simply repeat during concerts; they are morel ike regions of technique. Transitioning between these regions of technique involves either bleeding or block. Bleeding is a performance mode of ideas transitioning in a tangibly organic fashion. Blocking is a performance mode of smashing contrasting ideas against each other at impulsive points. Depending on the mood, one often wins out over the other, hence the title.

There's something about the thought patterns of performance, the way you transition between things, which holds a core truth. I have found that piecing together the best rehearsal tapes from my hard drive cannot recreate the surprising structural nuances and propositions of live playing.

Free improvisation is now subject to the same stylistic problems as any other established genre or approach. You have to work extra hard to be free enough to find new outcomes. this freedom lies in the hose moments where one can just play and not think about anything else, and these are the moments I aim for - to be alone in public.
"

To me it sounds like a man being hunted by Anxiety.


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## Nereffid

Seeing as you already brought up Lisa Moore, I have to draw attention to another work she's recorded, *Donnacha Dennehy's Stainless Staining*.
This 2007 piece combines piano with pre-recorded piano sounds to produce a glorious, shimmering piece of propulsive minimalism.


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## Selby

^ Agreed. Wonderful piece.


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## Blancrocher

I'll mention Salonen's "Dichotomie," a favorite piano work--as long as nobody pays attention to the nonsense about the 21st century starting Jan. 1 2001.

I'm especially taken with the first movement, "Mechanism," parts of which Salonen used in "Foreign Bodies," an orchestral work from the next year. According to the composer, who is fond of strained analogies and bizarre metaphors:

"The first movement, Mécanisme, is indeed like a machine, but not a perfect one: more like one of the Tingely sculptures (or mobiles, they really defy all attempts to categorize them), which are very active, extroverted, and expressive, but produce nothing concrete. I imagined a machine that could feel some sort of joie de vivre, and in that process, i.e., becoming human, would lose its cold precision."

Gloria Cheng, to whom the work was dedicated, offers some reflections:

http://www.gloriachengpiano.com/gloria_cheng_interviews-essays3.html

A performance of the work by Per Tengstrand:










Some may be put off by various repetitive gestures, but I find the work addictive.


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## Albert7

Feldman's "For Bunita Marcus" is extremely moving.






One of the late seminal pieces from the master.


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## tortkis

Selby said:


> ^ I look forward to hearing it. I'm a fan of R. Andrew Lee, he takes on unique projects; I've been listening to his recent recording of Duckworth's Time-Curve Preludes.


That is very good. I have most of his recordings on Irritable Hedgehog and love them all. The first album I heard and was greatly impressed by was Eva - Maria Houben's Piano Music (abgemalt (2009) & go and stop (2002)). Another masterpieces of Wandelweiser piano music.


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## Nereffid

Albert7 said:


> Feldman's "For Bunita Marcus" is extremely moving.
> 
> One of the late seminal pieces from the master.


And written in 1985. 

Unsuk Chin's 6 Études (completed 2003) have recently been recorded by Clare Hammond on a BIS album.








From the liner notes:


> Although Chin is a proficient pianist, she does not compose at the piano, preferring instead to rely on her 'aural imagination'. After rejecting composition in a post-serial style, she turned to electronic music in an attempt to find
> her own voice stating that as the 'process of composing electronic music is very abstract and complicated, it requires a total revamping of how one thinks about music'. As a result, the études, though superbly well written, are not pianistically idiomatic. They are composed of layers of patterns which are repeated insistently with subtle variations. Figurations lie awkwardly under the hand and the difficulty of the pieces is exacerbated by the almost unattainably high tempi that she indicates. The majority of études over the centuries have been written by expert pianists and, as a result, can sometimes lapse into formulaic textures
> when the composer relies on physical memory. Chin's uncompromising stance averts this danger while her captivating fusion of complexity and vitality gives these études their unique voice. They correspond with Chin's compositional ethos in which she strives for a beauty which is 'abstract and remote' yet 'addresses the emotions and can communicate joy and warmth'.


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## GioCar

Ivan Fedele: _Due notturni con figura_ (2007) for piano and electronics

Two nocturnes somehow recalling the traditional pieces from Chopin to Debussy, where great prominence is given to the timbrical and "spacial" interactions between the piano and the electronics (mostly derived from the sounds of the piano itself)
According to the composer's words, the figure (_figura_ in the title) is the piano, thought as an "entity" moving (diving? swimming?) into the sonic "landscape" created by the electronics.

The first nocturne is a tribute to Crumb's Vox Balaenae, the second one to Debussy's Prelude La cathédrale engloutie. The references to water (ocean, sea, lake, etc) are not by chance.


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## tortkis

Michael Byron: Dreamers of Pearl (2004 - 2006) - Joseph Kubera (New World Records)








movement 1 "Enchanting the Stars": 



movement 2 "A Bird Revealing the Unknown to the Sky": 



movement 3 "It is the Night and Dawn of Constellations Irradiated": 



Michael Byron's webpage

Michael Byron (b. 1953) is an American composer, studied with James Tenney. _Dreamers of Pearl_ is a contrapuntal piece with rhythmically irregular and complex melody lines relentlessly chasing each other. The outer movements are lively and fierce, while the middle movement is quite melodic and beautiful. I think this work is really fascinating.


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## Selby

Wolfgang Rihm (1952)
Wortlos (2007)

On the recent NEOS recording by Markus Bellheim









follow the links here:


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## Selby

Beat Furrer (1954)
Phasma (2002)

On the recent Kairos release from Nicolas Hodges









Great analysis of Furrer's piano works at this website:
http://www.jameselkins.com/pianofiles/?p=191

"The opening is comprised of ppp staccato forearm clusters of notes in an irregular rhythm:








These clusters are like muttering, so Furrer's indication "sprechend" ("speaking") is appropriate: but because these are clusters, they also conjure a group of speakers or performers "speaking" in perfect arhythmic synchronization: the effect is tense and uncanny."

YT video with score:


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## Selby

PS Could a MOD change the title of this thread from '21th' to '21st' ? Pretty, pretty please?


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## Torkelburger

Carl Vine - Piano Sonata No. 3 (2007)

The previous 2 piano sonatas are masterpieces (imo) of the twentieth-century.


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## Selby

*Stephen Hough*
b. 1961, England

_Piano Sonata No. 2, "Notturno luminoso"_

''about a different kind of night... the brightness of a brash city in the hours of darkness; the loneliness of pre-morning; sleeplessness and the dull glow of the alarm clock's unmoving hours; the irrational fears which are only darkened by the harsh glare of a suspended, dusty light bulb.''


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## Portamento

*Carl Vine* 
b. 1954, Australia

_Piano Sonata No. 3_ (2007)

Here is the first movement:





I find Vine's 3rd to be a synthesis of his past two essays in the genre - probably his last piano sonata. It seems fitting, anyway.


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## Selby

*Stephen Hough*
b. 1961, England

Piano Sonata No. 1, "Broken Branches" (2010)

I don't know what to say. I think this man is a genius. I think he has the most tender touch. He is composing new piano music, in today's world, highly influenced by Romanticism that does not sound cliché, over-sentimental, or anachronistic. I'm a huge fan. I look forward to a recording of his third sonata, which has been written; the score is available on his web site.


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## tortkis

Selby said:


> Anthony Pateras (b. 1979, Melbourne)
> 
> Block Don't Bleed / Bleed Don't Block (2012) for solo piano
> 
> played by the composer, 46:00
> from Anthony Pateras: Collected Works 2002-2012
> 
> View attachment 69522
> 
> 
> http://anthonypateras.com/blog/?page_id=6


I enjoyed the prepared piano pieces in that album very much. Pateras recorded a prepared piano duo album with Erik Griswold, who recently released a fascinating album from Cold Blue, called Ecstatic Decent, a 40-minute long prepared piano piece played by the composer himself.





http://www.coldbluemusic.com/pages/CB0047.html










The carefully prepared and tuned piano does not sound like a collection of random percussion instruments. The music is rhythmically complex, sounding like raindrop sound or "an enormous out-of-control music box or mechanical toy," but there are many beautiful moments. Intriguing from the beginning to the end.


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## Selby

*Michael Hersch*
b. 1971, USA

_The Vanishing Pavilions (2005)_

from AllMusic (http://www.allmusic.com/album/the-vanishing-pavilions-mw0001153621):

"...His gargantuan piano piece The Vanishing Pavilions, which lasts over 140 minutes, is based on imagery from the poetry of British writer Christopher Middleton. Its 50 movements, which last from less than a minute to over 10 minutes, consist of evocations of poetic fragments intermingled with about an equal number of intermezzos. It's constructed with a carefully considered architectural design, including a fairly frequent recurrence of movements, which, when heard in their new context, take on an entirely different emotional resonance.

This is music of raw, elemental gravity, which proceeds at its own unhurried pace. The music of each movement has an immediate, visceral impact; it sounds like it springs from, and speaks to, some deep, primordial place, unmediated by any system or even the niceties of compositional correctness. This is intensely serious music -- there's no frivolity here -- but even though it's dark, it's never drab. The variety that Hersch's tonal and gestural palette brings to each movement, as well as the music's restless, unpredictable rhythmic energy, commands the listener's attention.

The difficulty of the piece is its length. Artistically, it's exactly what it needs to be, but that doesn't mean it meshes very well with the average music lover's ability to stay focused for over two hours on a single work for a solo instrument, which in its totality can seem monolithic. In an ideal world, serious listeners would be able to give undivided attention to such a compelling piece, but in reality, very few people have the aural and psychological discipline to maintain the focus this piece requires. This is a case where following the program notes is immensely helpful, if not essential, for the average listener to fully appreciate the piece. The vividness of Middleton's images helps situate the listening experience, and the indication of which movements are repeated provides useful anchors for staying oriented. Hersch's performance is stunning in its vitality and virtuosity.

Vanguard's sound is mostly clear and clean, but it gets a little brittle in the piano's extreme high register. Anyone who loves new music (particularly piano music) that stretches conventional boundaries may well be captivated by The Vanishing Pavilions."


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## Kjetil Heggelund

Is Lera Auerbach (b. 1973) welcome here? She has 2 piano sonatas, "La Fenice" & "Il Segno" from 2005/6.


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## PeterFromLA

Pascal Dusapin, Sept Etudes (1999-2001)


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## Selby

Sorry, another admin request - Could this be moved to the Solo and Chamber section?


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## Trout

Selby said:


> *Michael Hersch*
> b. 1971, USA
> 
> _The Vanishing Pavilions (2005)_


One of my favorite two piano works of the 21st century, with the other being James Dillon's _Book of Elements_ (1997-2002). Each is a super long, complex, and powerful tour de force.


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## tortkis

Peter Garland: The Birthday Party (2014) - Aki Takahashi (New World Records, 2017)









http://www.newworldrecords.org/album.cgi?rm=view&album_id=94642
_The Birthday Party in particular is the work of an artist looking back - pensive, even nostalgic, open to musical associations. The Birthday Party is explicitly a study in both memory and loss; in Garland's own words it is not just a "toast" to Aki Takahashi, the dedicatee, on her birthday, but also to ". . . those who are still with us [and to] our friends and loved ones who are no longer alive."_

Tender and beautiful. The release date is May 12 on other music shops, but lossless file can be purchased from the New World Records site now.


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