1. Resolve

2. Trois beaux oiseaux du Paradis

3. Gossamer

4. Suspension

5. Joy

 

This collection of small piano pieces was sparked by the first in the set, Resolve, commissioned by the Olga Kern International Piano Competition and premiered at that competition in October 2022. It is dedicated to Olga Kern and pays homage to the remarkable resolve of young pianists around the world determined to make their mark.

 

The second piece, Trois beaux oiseaux du Paradis, is a reimagining of the second movement of Ravel's delightful Trois Chansons for unaccompanied choir. It is dedicated to my friend Natalie Shea.

 

The middle intermezzi, Gossamer and Suspension, were composed as my personal gift to American pianist Lindsay Garritson in gratitude for her generous commission of my fourth piano sonata. These works need little explanation. Gossamer references the dictionary definition, cobwebs spun by small spiders (especially in autumn), but with awareness of the possible derivation of that word from the Middle English term goose summer.

 

The set is cemented by the fifth work, Joy, commissioned by my old friend Marcus Hodgson to celebrate the fiftieth birthday of his wife, Bronwyn Robertson.

 

Carl Vine, August 2022