My youngest son Leif was learning the piano part. We wanted to surprise his teacher, Graeme Humphrey, with a private performance. It was during piano practise that I started thinking 'why not!', why not compose my own swan! The idea is not a new one. There is a beautiful - and difficult! - Swan by Finnish composer Selim Palmgren (1878-1951), and a variant on Saint-Saëns' original by his student Leopold Godowsky (1870-1938), enriched in the deliciously imaginative way so typical of him. For my own undertaking, I wanted part of the material to associate with Saint-Saëns' Swan, to be immediately recognisable. Beyond beauty and resplendence, I sought no further.
Two different endings hint at Saint-Saëns' original, in which the last chord of the piano part has the length of an eighth note. A remarkable end to a piece of such dignity and grandeur, possibly eccentric, but it often leads to performances ending on a fermata for both players. This is unquestionably very beautiful and atmospheric and comes with a guaranteed effect on an audience which is ready to seek relief in a sigh. This is to be weighed, of course, against the composer's own design. Your call.
My youngest son Leif was learning the piano part. We wanted to surprise his teacher, Graeme Humphrey, with a private performance. It was during piano practise that I started thinking 'why not!', why not compose my own swan! The idea is not a new one. There is a beautiful - and difficult! - Swan by Finnish composer Selim Palmgren (1878-1951), and a variant on Saint-Saëns' original by his student Leopold Godowsky (1870-1938), enriched in the deliciously imaginative way so typical of him. For my own undertaking, I wanted part of the material to associate with Saint-Saëns' Swan, to be immediately recognisable. Beyond beauty and resplendence, I sought no further.
Two different endings hint at Saint-Saëns' original, in which the last chord of the piano part has the length of an eighth note. A remarkable end to a piece of such dignity and grandeur, possibly eccentric, but it often leads to performances ending on a fermata for both players. This is unquestionably very beautiful and atmospheric and comes with a guaranteed effect on an audience which is ready to seek relief in a sigh. This is to be weighed, of course, against the composer's own design. Your call.
Preview: Le Cygne - The Swan. Cello & Piano
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