Works on Paper

PROGRAM NOTE

Works on Paper was written for my dear friend, the pianist and composer Timo Andres, on the occasion of a duo recital tour we gave in 2016. In writing for a fellow composer, I had in mind to attempt a certain kind of musical ventriloquism—I wanted to hint at aspects of Timo's compositional diction, grammar, vocabulary, and dialect, while also remaining attuned to his personality as a pianist. The first movement, "Death to Advertising", takes its title from a very bad pun having to do with the musical unit or cell from which the rest of the movement's material is derived. It is an exercise in Apollonian restraint, a quality with which I associate Timo's pianistic temperament. The second movement, "Veda (Paraphrase)", recasts the eponymous song from my 2014 album The Ambassador. While the outer voices (melody and bass) largely resemble the original song, there is a blurry harmonic aspect to the inner voices that shadow the melody, often in a slow, mazurka-like rhythm. Finally, "The New Sincerity Auld Reel" is a brief but virtuosic coda that pays homage to Appalachian folk music. It is of course a thrill to have this piece performed by my father, who is, coincidentally, one of my favorite pianists.

— Gabriel Kahane, 2016

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