Five Short Pieces (2006) for Piano
(Duration: 10')
1. Delirando
2. Animato
3. Pensieroso
4. Delicato
5. Languido
In June of 2005 Ismael Portugal Florit, a student from COEMS, asked me to write some piano music for him. I was delighted of course as I have always been impressed by his playing, musicality etc - though this would be the first time writing for a 'pupil' (I hope he will forgive the patronisation). The pieces were begun in October of 2005 and completed in January 2006.
The teacher/pupil relationship is imperfect of course, and complex at best. Even after the learning period has ended that 'person' (if we can ever see them as that) will always be our 'teacher', and hardly ever does it result in parity. We remember our past teachers as 'good' or 'bad'. The good are revered like saints, the bad, like sinners. Though perhaps we find ourselves judging our mentors with too harsh a critical eye or blaming them for our own inadequacies or shortcomings, after all, the best kind of tuition comes from within, by teaching ourselves; though this kind of teacher can often be the most difficult to understand.
Through rehearsal with Ismael I found that 'Five Short Pieces' showed a didacticism reflecting my side of our relationship: the naming of movements with metronome markings and Italian terms, their etude-like nature, their brevity, my attempt at a greater rhythmic/melodic simplicity and clarity etc. Indeed, even while going through the pieces together I still found myself 'teaching', "Play this passage louder, this one softer, just a bit more pedal" etc (though he needed little help - more patronising, my apologies). Similarly, the tempo marking of each piece decreases with each sucessive movement reflecting 'the learning process' - eager and naively exuberant at the start, wiser and more contemplative towards the end. They also reflect my, then current listening habits: Japanese 'hyper-minimalist' improv, AMM, Christian Wolff, Roger Smith (an ex-teacher!), the late Derek Bailey etc. Free improvisation continues to be my main source of creative listening, there is no musical 'spark' that compares to it.
'Five Short Pieces' were dedicated to Ismael with thanks and best wishes for his future studies.
MP3
Five Short Pieces
Below is a score extract from Mvt 1 - Delirando:
