Martin Anderson wrote:
>A pianist friend of mine has been engaged to perform a concerto in a
>concert in which the sole unifying link is the sea.
Please may I ask which concerto your friend intends to play?
>I have suggested all manner of sea pieces to open and close the concert.
>You will have your own ideas, which are welcome; we'd be especially
>grateful for "sea" piano concertos.
"Sea" piano concertos... Takemitsu wrote a beautiful piece for two
pianos and orchestra: "Quotation of Dream - Say sea, take me! - " (1991).
'Dream' refers to the structure, - independent musical episodes suddenly
seeming other, and becoming another, - 'Quotation' refers to the quotations
that he has intricately woven into his own fine, highly original music from
Debussy's "La Mer" and several of his own works referring to the sea.
("Say sea, take me!" is a quotation from a poem by Emily Dickinson).
What can one possibly add to your "all manner of sea pieces"? Two, maybe
a little lesser known perhaps:
Mikalojus Ciurlionis wrote a splendid symphonic poem for large orchestra
with organ (sorry, not piano...) quite simply entitled "The Sea" (1903-07),
which I do believe exists in Ciurlionis's own version for piano.
Sound in crashing or rippling waves, oceanic swell, breaking surface light,
and strong undercurrents could characterize Toshio Hosokawa's "Memory of
the Sea" (1999, I think but I'm not sure) - another fine orchestral
piece...
Then, if you want to play safe, there is Erkke-Sven Tuur's "Lighthouse"
(1997)... Sorry, just joking, but it is an interesting piece, full of
character.
Vaughan Williams, Sibelius, Mendelssohn, Bax, Bridge, Britten, Tchaikovsky,
Martin... - all is probably already listed...
Regards,
Christine Labroche
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