6-8/60 - Keyboard Piece 1

Keyboard Piece 1 is a composition for keyboard. Any keyboard. Piano, harpsichord, accordion, electric guitar, steel drums, tuned gongs, or more. The score indicates the notes and rhythm. Dynamics, articulation, and timbre are left up to the performer.
Here is a synthesizer recorded version (hit play to listen.)

The piece is in 3 parts, approximately:

  • 1st minute: Kyrie
  • 2nd minute: Christe
  • 3rd minute: Kyrie

Dedication and Inspiration

This piece constitutes minutes 6, 7, and 8 of the 60/60 project. I am honored to dedicate this music to Bert Van Herck and Brigitte Urien.
Bert Van Herck is a great Belgian composer. Listen to his recent piano composition Méandres on pianist Seda Röder's web site.

When composing, I found inspiration in:

  • Debussy's La Mer. Composer Magnus Lindberg revealed us a little secret: he always composes with the scores of Stravinsky's Le Sacre du Printemps and Debussy's La Mer on his desk. He is thus able to look for ideas inside, in case he is stuck. I already owned the score of Le Sacre du Printemps, I needed this of La Mer! This story gave me the idea of copying elements from other sources, as you will see.
  • Michala Petri and Keith Jarrett's Haendel recording. This present incited me to write a keyboard piece.
  • Palestrina. In this 2-CD set, I chose the piece with the duration the closest to 3 minutes: the Kyrie of the Missa Brevis. The plan for Keyboard Piece 1 is modeled after it, including the complete counterpoint from the first minute.
  • Finally, harmonic and melodic aspects of the piece were inspired by Bert Van Herck's orchestral piece Nessuno Sentiva:

This beautiful work won the competition to be played in an orchestral concert at Harvard Music Department in the Fall of 2006. Here is the clarinet melody on the first page of the score:

60/60 Project

Many thanks to all the participants! I will publish the next minutes soon!
Feel free to participate, and get a minute of music dedicated to you: check the announcement page of the 60/60 composition project.

Beautiful accordion picture is released under a licence Creative Commons by-nc-nd by orbitgal.

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