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Posts tagged 'piano quartet'

Vijay Iyer Joins PSNY!

PSNY is thrilled to announce the newest addition to our roster: composer, pianist, MacArthur fellow, Harvard professor, and all-around renaissance man, Vijay Iyer. Iyer's signature work as a musician in the past few decades has cemented him as a ground-breaking, boundary-crossing, true innovator of the 21st century. And now, his compositions for chamber ensembles are available to the public, for immediate, direct download. 

Our initial offering of Iyer's works is a testament to his bold style. Let's start with Dig the Say, a string quartet commissioned by Brooklyn Rider.

This work draws inspiration from James Brown, whose signature rhythms and harmonies (particularly around 0:26) are reimagined for string quartet with Iyer's fluid compositional hand. Not a mere transcription or imitation, this quartet filters Brown's energy into an entirely new composition that attempts a daring act of transcription across instruments and time. 

Iyer's Time, Place, Action, for string quartet and piano, contains similar stylistic elements—unison ostinati, rhythmic complexity, lyrical phrasing—but with a darker, more abstract effect. This work seamlessly blends compositional aspects of the classical quartet repertoire, jazz piano, and electronic music, as many of Iyer's works do. Check out a video of Iyer performing Time, Place, Action with the Brentano Quartet at the studios of WQXR in New York:

Iyer's Rimpa Transcriptions, commissioned and premiered by the Bang on a Can All-Stars, incorporates elements of improvisation into a brooding, meditative sound-scape. In the first movement, "Waves," a clarinet picks from several melodic fragments and performs them against an ominous background of glockenspiel, string glissandi, and bass pizzicatti. Figuration and accompaniment are split between the ensemble with expert orchestration.  

Our last initial offering of Iyer's works is Bruits, for wind quintet and piano. This work, premeired by Imani Winds, incorportes Iyer's signature rhythmically complex ostinati, accompanied by a wind quintet which blows through harmonies deeply inspired by contemporary jazz. 

Keep an eye out on our blog for more of Iyer's works to come in the future! 

New Works from Pierre Jalbert, Bruce MacCombie, and Kamran Ince

For some composers, summer is a time to relax in preparation for the oncoming concert season--but for our PSNY composers and staff, the summer season has been extremely busy! We're pleased to announce that Pierre Jalbert'sSonata for Marimba, commissioned in 2001 by percussionist Makoto Nakura, is now available through PSNY. Jalbert's writing for marimba can also be heard in his Concerto for Marimba and Orchestra. NewMusicBox did an interview with Jalbert on his expansive writing style for different instruments, viewable here: 

We're also happy to announce the availablity of two works for guitar by Bruce MacCombie: Lyric Variations and Tango Ambrosium. Both works pay homage to Latin American composers, particularly Astor Piazzola. We're happy to add more works for guitar to our repertoire, and we hope you add these works to yours!

Since its premiere in 2010, Kamran Ince's Far Variations has been performed across the country-- and, newly available on PSNY, we hope to see it performed around the world! This Piano Quartet was written with trans-national longing in mind: the state of being far from home. Ince's signature melding of Western and Turkish traditions shines in this piece. And for violinists and pianists interested in Ince's work, be sure to check out Ince's newly-published Koçekçe, for violin and piano, now available through Hal Leonard. 

Springtime for New Music

A lot has happened at PSNY since we last brought you news of the first ever digital publication of Morton Subotnick's chamber music: we've added almost 20 new works by several of our composers, including Adrian Knight, Timothy Andres, Alex Mincek, Tobias Picker, Pierre Jalbert, and Fred Lerdahl. Here are some highlights from this recent round of additions:

Adrian Knight's "Daedaldualism," for electric guitar, synthesizer, and live electronics:

Like Subotnick, Knight writes much of his chamber music to include electronics, both fixed and live. We're especially exited to be able to publish his music through PSNY since it seems a perfect fit for music with electronics-- all patches and programs are downloadable, and we're more than happy to answer any questions about the technical requirements. 

Alex Mincek's "Karate", for two saxophones:

"Karate" is just one of several pieces Mincek has written for saxophone, an instrument with which he is intimately familiar. "Karate," in particular, bursts with virtuosic, competitive tension, as two saxophones are seemingly pitted against each other in battle. Strongly reminiscent of John Zorn's early "game pieces" in structure, as well as the wildly frenetic aesthetic of "For Alto"-era Anthony Braxton.

 

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