Evan interpretive score released.
Remember Evan? No, not the guy – the piece. The piece named after the guy. That piano piece. Yeah, the one I composed almost 8 months ago. The one I never announced I had finished composing.
The reason is partly because I didn’t finish composing it. I slapped on a makeshift ending to wrap it up, became utterly disgusted at the formulaic tonic and then slapped on another note right after because that’s what felt right. It was exactly what the piece was about. But was the piece itself finished? In a sense, yes – the main ideas were there – but they were undeveloped little mud puddles that tried to jump from one puddle to the next. All in all – a hard piece to perform.
It’s not hard just because it has a few technical areas and a heavy chordal passage – it’s hard because it rushes the performer into a frenzy. The piece is divided into two clear sections both of what would first seem like distinctly different characters, but further study of the piece’s theme would reveal that they are not – in fact, they are one single, continuous development. In a way, it’s not the change in emotion that makes this piece interesting (though most would easily say that it is), it’s more of the restraint in emotion the performer has to show.
This restraint must be shown to let the various smaller melodies creep through the heavy banging in the middle. Simple dexterity is not enough. The performer has to understand what exactly the hurry is all about – is it an anger? Is it a frustration? Is it simple mischeviousness? One climax after another – or should they be climaxes?
Many of the melodies are admittedly not for the piano. The main theme itself in one such interpretation is much more fit for violin – long, slurred bows with the piano peeking through with light droplets to add contrast. It will end hanging – with a slight yearning, a slight sadness – or another much grander interpretation: a confident, full sound with a nimble backdrop to emphasise its majesty.
The only clearly interpreted section is the last – one of stillness. A slight murmur – a few sharp breaks of light – a heavy, determined, and resolute ending.
So a while back I had to record Evan to send off with my portfolio – obviously having not played it for 8 months and the piano untouched for a while due to other responsibilities, I will readily admit that my playing – and resulting recording, was an abomination. It was crap. An insult. There was a brief section played just right – but the rest was just note after note – a disgusting sequence of sound that didn’t deserve the 5.5 minutes of MP3 I sent off. As a result I’m not going to show the recording here until it’s redone properly.
However the score itself is another matter. As you might’ve garnered from the description above – I didn’t explain the emotion of the piece – not my emotion with it, at least – but I did give suggestions. The score is unmarked and completely interpretive. I invite anybody who wants to to play it – and yes, it is unfinished. It will probably stay that way for a while. I would appreciate any recordings of people playing it!
Click here to download it (second attachment) in PDF format.
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p. says: (1 May 2010)
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