Liner Notes
Cat. No. NWCRL404
Release Date: 2012-02-15
Wanda Maximilien, piano
Luigi Dallapiccola (1904-1975) was born in Pisino in Istria, a disputed province where Italian, Austrian, and Slavic cultures meet. In 1916 the Austrian authorities deported his family to Graz. an experience that gave the young musician an early taste of political oppression and at the same time exposed him to the rich heritage of Austro-German culture, especially music. In 1922 he journeyed to Florence to study, and he made that historic city his home for the remainder of his life. Originally intending to become a concert pianist, he determined to be a composer after hearing a performance of Schoenberg's Pierrot Lunaire under the composer's direction at the Palazzo Pitti in 1924. During the 1920s and '30s Dallapiccola attracted notice for his skillful counterpoint and sensitive vocal writing in a “neoclassic” style, following the direction of Casella and Malipiero. In the later '30s, however. chromaticism and dissonance become more frequent in his music, coinciding with the increasing oppressiveness of Fascism and the threat of war. A turning point was his Canti di Prigionia (1938-41), a setting of texts written by condemned prisoners, which combines modal polyphony with the techniques of twelve-tone serialism. By 1945 Dallapiccola had turned to pure serial composition, the first Italian composer to do so.
Robert Moevs writes:
“Fantasia Sopra un Motivo was written in the spring of 1951. The dotted upbeat containing a minor second is the cause of all that follows. A downward drive persists until it attains a climactic low B. This then allows the minor second to grow into a contrapuntal passage, affording temporary respite. The last part is an expanded recall of the processes carried out earlier, a way of proceeding that I have adopted in a number of subsequent works, including the Concerto for Piano, Orchestra and Percussion.
“My concern with intervallic control came to be complemented by, or worked out against, a balanced pitch distribution. This duplex consideration brought about a systematic chromaticism that I found more musically sensitive than the determinism of orthodox serialism. This chromaticism can become serial, when conducive to the musical purpose, as in Phoenix (1971): a theme of nine different pitches is intervallically symmetrical about the pivotal fifth pitch, which also is the peak of the melodic arch...
“Una Collana Musicale, 12 brief pieces for pianoforte, was written in 1977. These pieces, whose durations range from 30 seconds to a couple of minutes, are individual moments of varied character and compositional procedure. Their first pitches, rather as an acronym, present the circle of fifths, starting from C. No. 1, Praeludium, returns modified as No. 13, a Postludium, clasping, as it were, the necklace together. Inasmuch as they are otherwise individual entities, various selections and arrangements can be made. To fit the remaining space on the disc, Ms. Maximilien plays a set consisting of Nos. 2, 6, 5, 10. 11. 12. This collection has a certain logic of its own, illustrated by the metromonic rates: 66, 30-60-30, 90, 132, 60-45, 60.”
This title, originally issued on the CRI label, is now available as a burn-on-demand CD (CD-R) or download in MP3/320, FLAC or WAV formats. CD-Rs come in a protective sleeve; no print booklet or jewel case included. Liner notes are accessible via the link above.
Luigi Dallapiccola (1904-1975) was born in Pisino in Istria, a disputed province where Italian, Austrian, and Slavic cultures meet. In 1916 the Austrian authorities deported his family to Graz. an experience that gave the young musician an early taste of political oppression and at the same time exposed him to the rich heritage of Austro-German culture, especially music. In 1922 he journeyed to Florence to study, and he made that historic city his home for the remainder of his life. Originally intending to become a concert pianist, he determined to be a composer after hearing a performance of Schoenberg's Pierrot Lunaire under the composer's direction at the Palazzo Pitti in 1924. During the 1920s and '30s Dallapiccola attracted notice for his skillful counterpoint and sensitive vocal writing in a “neoclassic” style, following the direction of Casella and Malipiero. In the later '30s, however. chromaticism and dissonance become more frequent in his music, coinciding with the increasing oppressiveness of Fascism and the threat of war. A turning point was his Canti di Prigionia (1938-41), a setting of texts written by condemned prisoners, which combines modal polyphony with the techniques of twelve-tone serialism. By 1945 Dallapiccola had turned to pure serial composition, the first Italian composer to do so.
Robert Moevs writes:
“Fantasia Sopra un Motivo was written in the spring of 1951. The dotted upbeat containing a minor second is the cause of all that follows. A downward drive persists until it attains a climactic low B. This then allows the minor second to grow into a contrapuntal passage, affording temporary respite. The last part is an expanded recall of the processes carried out earlier, a way of proceeding that I have adopted in a number of subsequent works, including the Concerto for Piano, Orchestra and Percussion.
“My concern with intervallic control came to be complemented by, or worked out against, a balanced pitch distribution. This duplex consideration brought about a systematic chromaticism that I found more musically sensitive than the determinism of orthodox serialism. This chromaticism can become serial, when conducive to the musical purpose, as in Phoenix (1971): a theme of nine different pitches is intervallically symmetrical about the pivotal fifth pitch, which also is the peak of the melodic arch...
“Una Collana Musicale, 12 brief pieces for pianoforte, was written in 1977. These pieces, whose durations range from 30 seconds to a couple of minutes, are individual moments of varied character and compositional procedure. Their first pitches, rather as an acronym, present the circle of fifths, starting from C. No. 1, Praeludium, returns modified as No. 13, a Postludium, clasping, as it were, the necklace together. Inasmuch as they are otherwise individual entities, various selections and arrangements can be made. To fit the remaining space on the disc, Ms. Maximilien plays a set consisting of Nos. 2, 6, 5, 10. 11. 12. This collection has a certain logic of its own, illustrated by the metromonic rates: 66, 30-60-30, 90, 132, 60-45, 60.”
This title, originally issued on the CRI label, is now available as a burn-on-demand CD (CD-R) or download in MP3/320, FLAC or WAV formats. CD-Rs come in a protective sleeve; no print booklet or jewel case included. Liner notes are accessible via the link above.
Dallapiccola / Moevs: Piano Works
| MP3/320 | $7.99 | |
| FLAC | $7.99 | |
| WAV | $7.99 | |
| CD-R | $7.99 |
A *.pdf of the notes may be accessed here free of charge.
Track Listing
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Sonatina canonica su "Capricci" di NiccolÌ_ Paganini: I. Allegretto comodo - Allegro molto misurato
Luigi Dallapiccola
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Sonatina canonica su "Capricci" di NiccolÌ_ Paganini: II. Largo-Vivacissimo
Luigi Dallapiccola
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Sonatina canonica su "Capricci" di NiccolÌ_ Paganini: III. Andante sostenuto
Luigi Dallapiccola
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Sonatina canonica su "Capricci" di NiccolÌ_ Paganini: IV. Alla marcia; moderato
Luigi Dallapiccola
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Quaderno musicale di Annalibera: No. 1, Simbolo
Luigi Dallapiccola
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Quaderno musicale di Annalibera: No. 2, Accenti
Luigi Dallapiccola
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Quaderno musicale di Annalibera: No. 3, Contrapunctus Primus
Luigi Dallapiccola
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Quaderno musicale di Annalibera: No. 4, Linee
Luigi Dallapiccola
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Quaderno musicale di Annalibera: No. 5, Contrapunctus Secundus
Luigi Dallapiccola
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Quaderno musicale di Annalibera: No. 6, Fregi
Luigi Dallapiccola
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Quaderno musicale di Annalibera: No. 7, Andantino amoroso e Contrapunctus Tertius
Luigi Dallapiccola
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Quaderno musicale di Annalibera: No. 8, Ritmi
Luigi Dallapiccola
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Quaderno musicale di Annalibera: No. 9, Colore
Luigi Dallapiccola
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Quaderno musicale di Annalibera: No. 10, Ombre
Luigi Dallapiccola
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Quaderno musicale di Annalibera: No. 11, Quartina
Luigi Dallapiccola
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Fantasia Sopra un Motivo
Robert Moevs
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Phoenix
Robert Moevs
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Una Collana Musicale: No. 2
Robert Moevs
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Una Collana Musicale: No. 6
Robert Moevs
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Una Collana Musicale: No. 5
Robert Moevs
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Una Collana Musicale: No. 10
Robert Moevs
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Una Collana Musicale: No. 11
Robert Moevs
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Una Collana Musicale: No. 12
Robert Moevs
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