Three Toys No 1 (1995)
for solo piano
African Journal No 22
Requested by Daniel Matej for the 'morceaux en forme de poire' project
Originally titled ‘A Toy’
Publisher: Bardic Edition
Published in: Collected Shorter Piano Pieces Vol 1 (2008) – Bardic Edition BDE 917
Available from Goodmusic Publishing
Duration: 3 minutes
Recordings
Recorded by Jill Richards on ‘Michael Blake: Complete Works for Solo Piano 1994-2004’ (MBED001).
Première
First performance: Sunday 11 June 1995; Evenings of New Music, Moyzes Hall, Bratislava, Slovakia; John Tilbury piano.
Further performances: 24.05.1996; St Giles Cripplegate, London; Michael Blake piano (UK premiere)
9.05.1997; Saarbrücken, Germany; John Tilbury piano (German premiere)
Michael Blake South African Tour August 1997
*13.08.1997; Beethoven Room, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa (South African premiere)
*18.08.1997; Howard College Theatre, Natal University, Durban, South Africa
*22.08.1997; Musaion, University of Pretoria, South Africa
*25.08.1997; Atrium, Wits University, Johannesburg
14.05.2013; Endler Hall, Stellenbosch University, South Africa; Michael Blake piano
14.07.2013; Gentsche Festspiele, Gent, Belgium; Michael Blake piano
Programme note
Three Toys No 1, which is based on a group of pitches from the opening of Satie’s Trois Morceaux en Forme de Poire, was a request from Daniel Matej for the “morceaux en forme de poire” project premiered during the sixth edition of Evenings of New Music. The title refers to short pieces commonly found in collections of Elizabethan virginal music, but it could also refer to a spinning top which might have been the “pear shaped object” Satie had in mind…
Three Toys Nos 2 and 3 (1997)
for solo piano
African Journal No 22 a & b
Originally titled ‘More Toys’
Publisher: Bardic Edition
Published in: Collected Shorter Piano Pieces Vol 1 (2008) – Bardic Edition BDE 917
Available from Goodmusic Publishing
Duration: 6 minutes
Recordings
Recorded by Jill Richards on ‘Michael Blake: Complete Works for Solo Piano 1994-2004’ (MBED001)
Première
First performance: Wednesday 29 September 2004; Howard College Theatre, Durban, South Africa; Mary Dullea piano
Further performances:
14.05.2013; Endler Hall, Stellenbosch University, South Africa; Michael Blake piano
14.07.2013; Gentsche Festspiele, Gent, Belgium; Michael Blake piano (European première)
Programme note
Three Toys No 2 and No 3 came about because I wanted to compose different views of the “object” I had called A Toy (Three Toys No 1), and so the complete set might be an aural equivalent of viewing a piece of sculpture from three different perspectives. The changes that occur between pieces are related to pitch and mode; in every sense they could be read as a response to Satie’s Trois Gymnopedies.
for solo piano
African Journal No 22
Requested by Daniel Matej for the 'morceaux en forme de poire' project
Originally titled ‘A Toy’
Publisher: Bardic Edition
Published in: Collected Shorter Piano Pieces Vol 1 (2008) – Bardic Edition BDE 917
Available from Goodmusic Publishing
Duration: 3 minutes
Recordings
Recorded by Jill Richards on ‘Michael Blake: Complete Works for Solo Piano 1994-2004’ (MBED001).
Première
First performance: Sunday 11 June 1995; Evenings of New Music, Moyzes Hall, Bratislava, Slovakia; John Tilbury piano.
Further performances: 24.05.1996; St Giles Cripplegate, London; Michael Blake piano (UK premiere)
9.05.1997; Saarbrücken, Germany; John Tilbury piano (German premiere)
Michael Blake South African Tour August 1997
*13.08.1997; Beethoven Room, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa (South African premiere)
*18.08.1997; Howard College Theatre, Natal University, Durban, South Africa
*22.08.1997; Musaion, University of Pretoria, South Africa
*25.08.1997; Atrium, Wits University, Johannesburg
14.05.2013; Endler Hall, Stellenbosch University, South Africa; Michael Blake piano
14.07.2013; Gentsche Festspiele, Gent, Belgium; Michael Blake piano
Programme note
Three Toys No 1, which is based on a group of pitches from the opening of Satie’s Trois Morceaux en Forme de Poire, was a request from Daniel Matej for the “morceaux en forme de poire” project premiered during the sixth edition of Evenings of New Music. The title refers to short pieces commonly found in collections of Elizabethan virginal music, but it could also refer to a spinning top which might have been the “pear shaped object” Satie had in mind…
Three Toys Nos 2 and 3 (1997)
for solo piano
African Journal No 22 a & b
Originally titled ‘More Toys’
Publisher: Bardic Edition
Published in: Collected Shorter Piano Pieces Vol 1 (2008) – Bardic Edition BDE 917
Available from Goodmusic Publishing
Duration: 6 minutes
Recordings
Recorded by Jill Richards on ‘Michael Blake: Complete Works for Solo Piano 1994-2004’ (MBED001)
Première
First performance: Wednesday 29 September 2004; Howard College Theatre, Durban, South Africa; Mary Dullea piano
Further performances:
14.05.2013; Endler Hall, Stellenbosch University, South Africa; Michael Blake piano
14.07.2013; Gentsche Festspiele, Gent, Belgium; Michael Blake piano (European première)
Programme note
Three Toys No 2 and No 3 came about because I wanted to compose different views of the “object” I had called A Toy (Three Toys No 1), and so the complete set might be an aural equivalent of viewing a piece of sculpture from three different perspectives. The changes that occur between pieces are related to pitch and mode; in every sense they could be read as a response to Satie’s Trois Gymnopedies.
