20th Century Piano Music; 6

I'm. From Cincinnati you are hearing the repetitions by Walter majors which will be played on discussed by Jean Kirstein on today's program. Twentieth century music or pianist. Jean Kirstein is an internationally known interpreter of contemporary piano music and of earlier works and a member of the artist faculty at the University of Cincinnati. I'm Myron Bennett and on this program I talk with Jean Kirstein about the music you will hear and the composers. The next composer We will hear music by Huntress cusses you know talk gosh who was born in one of those towns that the border moved across at the time he was born it was in Austria but in other times it was Hungary and he was born in 1900 into studied composition with Joseph box and Hans Scarlet the Vienna conservatory. He was a friend a contemporary of the bartók and

timecode II and is regarded as one of the world authorities on bail of our talk and he has also done much work in the collection of folk music. Currently you know talk ushers at the College Conservatory of Music and is known personally by both Jean Kirstein and myself. And he's a very interesting man. Isn't that right. Yes and it seems to me that's very hard to classify as works. They cover such a wide range. And his current work seems quite as advanced as any of his younger conferences. That's true he's very hard to put into a chronological picture. He came within a short span of time in many different idioms. Maybe this is because he teaches the entire gamut of composition as well as piano. How about this work on with the talk I just described it this way himself. I read it. Sounds and silences composed in one thousand sixty one sixty two represent a series of

seemingly independent studies in sound especially piano sonorities. They're separated but at the same time also linked by shorter or longer pauses or silences their length is determined by the event. Just heard or the one following immediately after it is of course a non tonal composition with the free use of the 12 chromatic notes and all the resources of the grand piano from its highest to its lowest register. I notice in looking at the score that there is no time signature. How do you know how long to hold the Psalms and wait during the silences and the time is the measurement of time and this piece is that the unit is a second which is mocked above the staff. Throughout the entire piece you have numbers which represent seconds and the notes and the silences both fit into the seconds. A note is held 10 seconds 15 seconds I was a silence and sometimes the notes are performed within a certain prescribed number of seconds.

Does this work present any challenges to you. Was psychological challenge of sitting out the silences. It's unusual for a pianist to sit and perform nothing. And this one of the silences I believe as long as 35 seconds so it takes little courage to hold it to its full length. Oh.

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Know. Oh. It sounds in silence by you know talk on and off for our next conversation about the next music you will hear.

The next composer we talk about is Milton Babbitt a composer born in 1916. He studied with Marian Bauer and Roger Sessions and during the 1940s he formulated a broad theoretical basis for the serial organization of music. He was also a mathematician hounds. This training has gone over into his music especially in the serialization technique. He writes music that is highly structured. At least that's how he's been characterized. Does this piece that we're going to hear follow this description. Yes the serialization is both in the notes in the dynamics and in the rhythm of this piece. This is a complicated piece. Extremely so there are very great technical leaps of sound of great differences of time now mix in rapid succession. It's a very fast pace and a very short one he also uses the sustaining pedal to hold notes down and all of this creates you know hands and feet

working at the same time and had never looked at this chord of this before I heard you play a two hander. I couldn't chart what was going on even though I have had some training and should be able to read music I thought but this was a very confusing piece to read because it is difficult for a pianist to play as it looks. It was very difficult to play it is very difficult to play and it was very difficult to learn the rhythmic structure of the piece is so complicated. Even one hand is hard much less putting them together of different rhythms in each hand to be figured out and not usual rhythms that are there just to look just to learn it was very complicated. When its so short to you know only couple minutes and within this theres so much going on it's very hard to hear on first but interesting. Well now play partitions by Milton Babbitt. Why.

I just won by Milton Babbitt and I will talk once more with Jane

Christine about the final selection on today's program. The next week we're going to hear is by Walter Mays. Jane Christine could you tell us about Walter Mays just amazes a young composer who is living here in Cincinnati. He studied at the conservatory with Mr. Tucker and John Cage is he a pianist. No he's not he's an exceptional clarinet player and. I imagine he does play the piano because he does try the things out that he has composed but he's not a pianist. Are there other many composers today writing for the piano. No unfortunately not the piano as a solo instrument has sort of been precise and I've got it with the contemporary composers. I met a few this summer in South America and they told me I must change my instrument because nobody is writing for anyone. But here is a clarinetist who did write a work for the piano and a very interesting one. Could you describe it for us.

That piece is a series of movements based on the central idea of repeating an out. What patterns of notes. In as many ways as possible. The first one is rather improvisational with repeated patterns. The second one is one chord and one note not changing at all except in dynamics. It is played. I forget the exact number of measures over and over starting softly getting louder and louder and then disappearing. The same chord over and over. The last one is a very virtuous so I like Liszt in its technical sweep of along the keyboards but once again using repetitions of patterns and notes it ends with one repeated note. Played it's played until it is in order bowl on the keyboard and I one time on a very

resonant piano I think I played in a hundred some odd times before it finally disappeared and is then muted at the end by putting your finger on the string to make it even softer and disappears. It's a network that sounds very interesting and in its way is sounds to be very pianistic. It is his very pianistic which is also unusual for contemporary writing. Somehow the majority of contemporary composers do not use the piano pianistic late today use a percussive Lee but not in an old fashioned way in this piece I think Bridge is a kind of a link between traditional piano playing and contemporary said the lesser of the repetitions by Walter Mays. Also I described for Jane Christine right.

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Who. Who. Who. Who. Who. Who. Who. Who. Who. Who. Who. Who. That was repetitions for Jean Christy and this has been a program of 20th

century music while piano played and discussed by Jean Christine an internationally known interpreter of contemporary piano music and of earlier works. Mrs. Christine is a member of the artist faculty of the University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music research for this series by Walter Mays. It was recorded and produced at WG U.S. the University of Cincinnati station by your own Alex or Myron bought it and made possible by the Friends of WG U.S.. This is the national educational radio network.