Piano Sonata #6: 17 Graeme Lee Prints
Composed and performed by Michael Kieran Harvey during the 2020 pandemic, Piano Sonata #6 was commissioned by artist Graeme Lee in response to 17 prints he produced in July 2020. The music, the prints and Arjun von Caemmerer’s aphorisms are highly contrasting and individual.
Piano Sonata #6: '17 Graeme Lee Prints' was written during the 2020 pandemic. It was commissioned by Graeme Lee, and is a response to the series of prints he produced during July 2020.
A further interpretational layer is added with the aphorisms of Dr Arjun von Caemmerer, who wrote the accompanying text "Leeward Epigraemes" as a response to both the images and nascent musical sketches.
The main binding element in the 17 sonata movements is the intuitive hermeneutic response to each Lee print. Originally conceived as a collection of pieces, the work coalesced as a sonata due to the mereology of its constituent elements.: 17 is the only prime number to be made up of four consecutive primes (2,3,5,7), and these figure constantly throughout the sonata.
In the same way, Lee's prints and von Caemmerer's aphorisms are at once highly contrasting and individual, yet bound as a series by their overarching and distinctive visual "language". To emphasise the interdependence between the visual, text and music, each movement is preceded by an aphorism and the appropriate print which appear in the accompanying CD booklet, and in the digital booklet (the link is under cover above).
Press quotes
“Piano Sonata #6 impresses as a significant addition to the 21st century solo piano literature. If it were a novel, one would say that it has a coherent, compelling narrative. Harvey is a pianistic, compositional, and intellectual force to be reckoned with. He is a significant, highly musical virtuoso pianist and an accomplished composer writing on this occasion for himself as a performer. Some pianists dabble in composition, other composers dabble in pianism (even Stravinsky made money performing his own piano concerto), but few combine equally high standards at both. Although there are moments when the influence of jazz or particular composers comes to the fore – as I type this sentence, I am listening again to an instance of this, Fitzroy Jazz II (17/17) – the unifying voice is that of Harvey as composer, aided and abetted by himself as pianist.”
Read full review— Philip Pogson, Loud Mouth Music Trust e-zine
“Glittering aphorisms all round. What we have is yet another in the series of this great artist’s CDs for the Move company. It’s a gift to us all, the Michael Harvey Collection – one that refreshes as each album emerges. Further, the composer is clearly as creatively fertile as ever. This Sonata #6 breaks some time-honoured rules of Western composition; for example, by eschewing the form’s usual discursive nature in favour of a suite in which the compositional patterns are bogglingly complex. As an exploration of the piano’s potential for novel sounds and whole new paragraphs of activity, this disc of brief bursts – even for those familiar with the composer/pianist’s previous achievements – is a must-have.”
Read full review— Clive O'Connell, oconnellthemusic.com
Artists
Michael Kieran Harvey
Australian pianist and composer, Dr Michael Kieran Harvey FAHA, is one of the foremost interpreters of contemporary piano music of his generation. A champion of Australian music, he regularly commissions new Australian music and has performed with Australia's leading contemporary music ensembles and orchestras.
Arjun von Caemmerer
Dr Arjun von Caemmerer is a Hobart-based general medical practitioner, Iyengar Yoga teacher/practitioner and writer. In 1995 (with Naomi Cameron) he established The Hobart School of Iyengar Yoga.
Audio previews
Track Listing
- Floating Item
- Hot Rolls II
- Pyramid
- White Shapes III
- Vase
- Pattern
- Globe
- Coloured M
- Stage
- Gap
- Oysters
- Tower
- Black Bowl
- Item Falling
- Man Running
- Mound II
- Fitzroy Jazz II
Piano Sonata #6 Michael Kieran Harvey
Performers
Contributors
Poetry
Arjun von Caemmerer
Dr Arjun von Caemmerer is a Hobart-based general medical practitioner, Iyengar Yoga teacher/practitioner and writer. In 1995 (with Naomi Cameron) he established The Hobart School of Iyengar Yoga.
Where to listen
Piano Sonata #6: 17 Graeme Lee Prints is available for streaming through Spotify and Apple Music. It can also be purchased through the iTunes Music Store.
Piano Sonata #6: 17 Graeme Lee Prints is available as a CD. It can be purchased online through Buywell Music or the Australian Music Centre which both offer online ordering.
Product details
Related recordings
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