January 2009: Intensely Pleasant Music

"Radio 3 at its best..."
(Financial Times on last month's In memoria)
read full review below

ORATORIO DOWNLOAD *Jerusalem-Yerushalayim*
http://cd.tp/Jerusalem

A programme note, synopsis, complete libretto, review of first performance etc. in a single document:
http://cd.tp/Jerusalem/Jerusalem-YerushalayimINFO.pdf

A revised vocal score for anyone who can play the piano or sing:
http://cd.tp/Jerusalem/JerusalemENSEMBLEversion1point3VOCALSCORE.pdf
- the open password is "Melchizedek"

And a computer-produced audio version of all the movements:
http://tonusperegrinus.co.uk/sounds/Jerusalem/JerusalemCHAMBERVERSIONcomplete.m3u
http://cd.tp/Jerusalem/midi.html

The coda 'The Peace of Jerusalem' is recorded on Hyperion CDA67668 and is available in good record shops, as they say:
http://shop.thewelcomestranger.org/antony-pitts-alpha-and-omega-108-p.asp; some of it can be heard here: http://cd.tp/Jerusalem/Jerusalem-YerushalayimXIIIb.mp3

More info at: http://cd.tp/Jerusalem
Please get in touch if you have any queries about performance, including instrumental parts etc.
    

CD RELEASE *cd.tp/ipm08*
intensely pleasant music: 7 Airs & Fantasias and other piano music by John Pitts - Steven Kings, piano
"The seven 'intensely pleasant' AIRS & FANTASIAS for solo piano were written between 1992 and 2007.  The airs are essentially melody-dominated, and the fantasias are pieces in free form with a minimalistic use of repeated and rotating patterns.  The pieces are intended to be performed individually or in numbered pairs, or as a complete collection.  The subtitles are largely programmatic or self-explanatory, other than Air 3 (On an anagram) which uses a melodic motif based on the letters of a name.  The performance of Fantasia 2 on this disc uses optional piano preparations (a small plastic ruler secured loosely in place over middle C to the E above, another ruler wedged between 2 of the 3 F strings, and a bent metal ruler from the next C up over a further octave).  A&Fs 6-7 inhabit a different harmonic world to the other pieces, using a collection of chord relationships called "Twisted Harmonies".
CHANGES is a minimalistic counting duel for 20 nifty fingers.  It starts with the skeleton of a short repeated phrase (in 14/8) which gradually fills out, and then moves through two enormously tricky sections in which the two pianists have overlapping bars of different lengths (14 and 15 quavers).  The duet finally builds to a dramatic climax.
TOCCATA is a tour de force of driving energy, based on some wild jazz-infused harmony and a few simple cells of melodic material which are explored and developed over a 9-minute period: technically demanding, mentally strenuous, the music's energy is regulated until the final release in the last section, where all the thematic fragments converge, and uninterrupted momentum is achieved.  Two passages call for the use of the middle "sostenuto" pedal, which sustains only selected notes and leaves all others dry."
Order CD direct from: http://shop.thewelcomestranger.org/john-pitts-7-airs--fantasias-263-p.asp
More info: http://cd.tp/ipm08

Also recorded on 21/08/08 was a piece for 30 nifty fingers: ARE YOU GOING? by John Pitts.  It is a fast, frenetic, complex, polyphonic romp based on the folk-melody Scarborough Fair, pulled around in various time-warps.  Daniella Acker joined Steven Kings and John Pitts at the Steinway, and an mp3 of ipm08a is available initially as a digital download from Lulu.
Download: http://www.lulu.com/commerce/index.php?fBuyContent=5432193

Download the whole album on Lulu, including the extra track:
http://www.lulu.com/commerce/index.php?fBuyContent=5433089
 
Printed books of the whole collection of Airs & Fantasias, Changes and Are You Going?, Toccata, and other pieces are currently available to order from Lulu:
http://stores.lulu.com/JohnPitts

"Three Pieces - an Air and two Fantasias by John Pitts are intensely pleasant music with a serene rhythmic sense and a sure harmonic ear." Calum MacDonald, International Record Review.
"This is lovely music to listen to and shows a deep absorption of earlier styles but with a large degree of originality added for good measure." John France, Musicweb International.
[Reviews of CD DRD0238 Dunelm Records 2005]


RADIO CHOICE (20/12/2008) *In memoria*
"Tonight's Between the Ears is Radio 3 at its best, by turns freewheeling, precious, touching, aggravating and riveting. Renaissance motets and modern compositions alternate with liturgical readings, children's voices and a man's heartbreaking account of his wife's tragic death. Frequently beautiful, cumulatively moving - and fascinating radio." ****
Financial Times (Martin Hoyle)
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/cdb756de-ce38-11dd-8b30-000077b07658.html?nclick_check=1
http://shop.thewelcomestranger.org/latest-reviews-83-p.asp


Happy New Year, and thank you for listening,