I’ve just uploaded an excerpt from recording of a workshop made by phenomenal young pianist Ben Powell. Here, he was looking at my new/old piano piece bete mika'el (2012), itself part of the eleven churches of lalibela project that I began as part of my PhD.
The recording itself is not of the highest audio quality (technologically, not performatively!) but I thought it might be interesting as a ‘sneek peek’ ahead of the composition’s for 'formal’ premiere.
If you are interested to know more, you can download a complete score of the composition here (you may wish to know that the excerpt above is taken from towards the end of the composition). The piece itself is built from layers of “archetypal” piano material (labelled in my sketches as melody, counterpoint, chorale, verticality, etc.) which are abruptly collided as part of the composing process. The independently constructed material layers are forced to entwine, encrust and counteract oneanother - melodies interrupt chorales, counterpoint dissolves verticalities - allowing the sonic surface to occupy an unending ambiguous “gray zone,” between the archetypical forms, which itself constantly shifts in hue as strata shift register or are indeed removed altogether.
Watch this space for the details of the first performance! Enjoy!
Matthew