A collection of amusing material from my teens. I was born in 1974 and the music from this tape comes from somewhere between January 1991 and April 1992 and dates from a time when I was a 16/17-year-old flamboyant "virtuoso" pianist (ie. lots of notes, little accuracy). Some shocking but interesting "interpretations" of Beethoven with full cadenzas improvised by me, plus a really regrettable attempt at Poulenc's "Les Soirées de Nazelles" which ends up turning into pure improvisation. Also a few brash compositions from the same time, influenced by Shostakovich, Satie, Bartok and jazz/pop techniques. Additionally in this collection you will find four GCSE paintings (GCSE is like O-level - not sure what the American equivalent is: 16 year old anyway) - I received a grade 'G', which is one up from unclassifiable, and in many ways more shameful! Finally the collection is completed by some restored ZX Spectrum programs I wrote at the same time - a role-playing game, a snail-racing game, a sample sequencer for the 128 and a general art-design package, oh plus an insult generator for the currah microspeech (quite hilarious) - the spectrum collection will run on emulators and there are screenshots, mp3 samples etc included. Overall a private/public insight into the mind of one very strange screwed up little swine!!
This is quite a "private" collection of music, as well as other creative materials from the same period. I'm making it public mainly for light-hearted fun but also so that interested parties can know what I was like back then (weird). Some people might even remember those times. I'd LOVE to hear from people in my GCSE Art class or who remember my "interpretations" of Beethoven, etc. WISH I had a tape of my truly pitiful Grieg Piano Concerto, but I don't, so far as I know.....
Anyhow the music is:
Poulenc: Les Soirées de Nazelles - please note this is NOT Pascal Rogé or Paul Crossley - this is quite cringe-worthy!! But what's interesting is how it gradually deteriorates as I start to realise I just simply cannot play it, and it becomes an improvisation. Quite an interesting early tribute to one of my heroes.
Beethoven: Fourth Piano Concerto, Second Movement, the famous "Orpheus and the Furies" movement - wildly interpreted, no adherence to Beethoven's original aesthetic, and a full cadenza by me, somewhat in the manner of the one Schnittke wrote for the Beethoven Violin Concerto, though at that time I hadn't heart that. (I think I'd heard a few Schnittke pieces, probably the 2nd Piano Sonata.)
Beethoven: Sonata for Piano, in B-flat (an early one, can't remember opus number) - this is very "interpreted" and wild and probably not actually ALL THAT FAR from what Beethoven/Liszt might have delivered, but I'll let you decide. Anyhow it's very slapstick. I played this once at an old folks' home and the final cadence took a plant pot off the top of the piano!! Great days...............
And some of my stuff:
The F-Minor dirge that I was so fond of at the time with its closing cadence which frankly sounds a lot like Andrew Lloyd-Webber, but if you'd said that to me at the time I'd almost certainly have killed you in cold blood.
A sketch for a string quartet, oddly, somewhat Elgarian but again that opinion would not have been especially welcome at the time!
A very catchy percussive type piano piece which sounds a lot like Shostakovich and Bartok, with odd shades of Satie and plenty of jazz/pop influences from the rubbish I'd been playing prior to that as an early-to-mid-teenager.
"Leprechaun Ernest Again, Anthony" - an "in joke" piece, very flamboyant performance, lots of big crashes. Typical of the times really.
Particularly interesting here is the school bell which sounds towards the end!! I vaguely remember recording this tape and it was before school started in the morning on a lovely baby Steinway. Oh to be a child again!!!!!
Anyhow I hope you enjoy it. Please take the time to listen to some of my "grown up" music too if you like this, and reviews are most welcome of course!
Please note that I'm not in ANY WAY trying to make out that my Beethoven etc. are "good" performances. They're just "interesting".
ONLINE COMPLETE AT ARCHIVE.ORG - download for free in MP3, FLAC or OGG format.
The CD is £5 anywhere in the world. Total time: 38m (+ 36 minutes of material from 'Piano Works' from not long after)