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George Friedrich Haas' Ein Schattenspiel Receives US Premiere by Pianist Richard Carrick

Jan. 31, 2008

On Wednesday, February 20 Richard Carrick performs the US Premiere of George Friedrich Haas' Ein Schattenspiel (Shadow Games)at the Austrian Cultural Forum of New York. Written for piano and live electronics, the pianio part is recorded live and replayed a quarter-tone higher at a delay of 24 seconds, with the echo replay increasing at a discreet rate. The aim of the electronics is to produce the effect of the pianist casting a musical shadow ahead of himself. The sound shadow follows the performer at an ever shorter interval, until the gap between the sound source and the transformed echo reaches zero at the end of the piece. As the composer puts it, "The performer of the work is constantly confronted anew with what he has just played. The live-electronics confronts him with his own history. At the end, he is caught up by this history." A member of New York's Either/or Ensemble, Carrick performs Ein Schattenspiel as part of a wider program by the ensemble at the Austrian Cultural Forum commencing at 7:30 PM which also features Beat Furrer's Lied for violin and piano.

Also this month The New York Miniaturist Ensemble, known for its dedication to performing works of 100 notes or fewer, performs the US Premiere of Arvo Pärt's Scala cromatica. As the title suggests, the work comprises purely of a long falling chromatic scale over four octaves. The New York Miniaturist Ensemble's performance of Scala cromatica takes place at the Brooklyn Center for New Music on Tuesday, February 29.

Admission to the Either/Or Ensemble's performance is free of charge but tickets are required. Visit www.eitherormusicmusic.org for reservations.

To learn more on the music of George Friedrich Haas, visit www.universaledition.com.

Go to www.nyme.org to learn more on the New York Miniaturist Ensemble.

George Friedrich Haas
Ein Schattenspiel (2004)
for piano and live electronics
10'

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