Explorations (1971)
for two pianos
Unpublished
Première
First performance: 1971; University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa; Shirley Hoffmann piano, Michael Blake piano
Programme note
The genesis of this piece grew out of a conversation with my peer Shirley Hoffmann when we were slated to give a lunchtime recital together in the Wits University Music Department. Shirley Hoffmann did not want to play the usual warhorses of the piano duo repertoire and challenged me to write a new work.
The rules I set for myself were to use extended piano techniques only, both on the keys and on the strings (clusters, glissandi). Two pairs of boxing gloves were introduced to play clusters in the third section, the second was a kind of percussion cadenza for the pedals alone, and overall I used some serial techniques - which I had just discovered - particularly to determine register.
for two pianos
Unpublished
Première
First performance: 1971; University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa; Shirley Hoffmann piano, Michael Blake piano
Programme note
The genesis of this piece grew out of a conversation with my peer Shirley Hoffmann when we were slated to give a lunchtime recital together in the Wits University Music Department. Shirley Hoffmann did not want to play the usual warhorses of the piano duo repertoire and challenged me to write a new work.
The rules I set for myself were to use extended piano techniques only, both on the keys and on the strings (clusters, glissandi). Two pairs of boxing gloves were introduced to play clusters in the third section, the second was a kind of percussion cadenza for the pedals alone, and overall I used some serial techniques - which I had just discovered - particularly to determine register.
