I've already featured a bunch of pieces from anthologies, so another one should be expected at this point. Established in 1984, Fallen Leaf Press was a small publisher of music books and scores before closing shop in 1999, having hosted such composers as Charles Fussell and Burrill Phillips. While Scarecrow Press took over their book catalog, the scores are listed as "revert(ing) back to the composers," meaning they'll never see the light of day again. In 1992 they published Various Leaves (hey, convenience in titles!) which collected short piano works from their roster, and I was fortunate enough to run across in the BU library as it's apparently impossible to buy used.* Most of the names were totally unfamiliar to me, such as Peter Josheff, who wrote this:
(Click for larger view)
According to the notes from the back of the book, Josheff wrote A Veltin Infusion as a time out from a song cycle, and every inch of this piece seeps with elusive calm, or charm biting its lip in anticipation. Josheff's language is filtered through the thoughtful end of jazz pianism, but rather than sticking to predictables the chords swoop in many directions, all sumptuous. There's a lot of subtlety in the techniques required, such as careful pedaling and holding on to harmonic components you didn't know were crucial until that moment. I looked up "veltin" and it's apparently a German boy's name, a shortened form of Valentin. It's also a topical acne gel, but I don't know how effective it'd be injected into the bloodstream. Having played it earlier today I can't help but imagine Josheff conceiving the piece while peering at clouds through a skylight, possibly in the middle of a dusty, plain wood staircase that turns at the half-way point.**
The lack of a recording stunk of a needed unnegligence, so here's a performance I mustered in Boston some time ago (with a whole 10 views on YouTube!):
~PNK
*Come on, we all know you've got a copy you'd like to sell to me. Don't be coy. I'm willing to raggle*** if you've got any sentiment for it.
**Our legal department has issued a formal apology for the above drawn-out Aesthe Indulgence, and offers a half-penny in compensation available at the closest Western Union office to your area code.
***Reverse-haggle.
No comments:
Post a Comment