Although the 'Etude sur les Mouvements Rotatoires' gets top billing, the main meat of this disc, and most of its appeal, lies in the '24 Preludes' that follow it, or, in full, the '24 Preludes in 13-tone diatonicised chromaticism in quarter-tone system for two pianos', op. 22, initially published in 1934 then subsequently revised over the course of the '60s. Ivan Wyschnegradsky, their composer, had been born in Russia, but spent most of his adult life in Paris. In the wake of a quasi-mystical epiphany in his youth, he felt compelled to compose microtonal, or what he sometimes referred to as "ultrachromatic" music.
In practice, this most often meant composing pieces on a specially-designed piano he'd had made with two keyboards tuned a quarter-tone apart: for performances, in the absence of such a unique instrument, two differently-tuned pianos and two pianists would typically be called for. The theory behind the compositions is outlined in what is, for me, incomprehensible technical detail in the booklet notes. On hearing or seeing the preludes being played however, even an ignorant listener like me can get the general idea.
The effect is disconcertingly like one might imagine Scriabin's Preludes might sound like if played by Les Dawson. I find it fascinating, intermittently ridiculous and occasionally beautiful. The full set of Preludes is a bit of a rich meal for a single sitting, so when I listen it's usually to a subset of them. It must be remarkably difficult music to play well, given the degree of synchronisation needed between the two players: Sylvaine Billier and Martine Joste to the honours here in fine style.
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