Three Lyric Pieces
Lawrence Kramer
About this work:
These short piano pieces, latter-day songs without words, take
their titles--Andante amoroso, Allegro misterioso, and Adagio
apassionato--from the second, third, and fourth movements of Alban
Berg's Lyric Suite for string quartet--Berg's musical portrait of his
love affair with Hannah Fuchs-Robettin. Berg grouped the three
movements together in an orchestration for string orchestra.
Berg's quartet, as we now know, also incorporates a song without
words, an unsung setting, in the finale, of a poem by Baudelaire.
There is no hidden text in these piano pieces, but there is, perhaps,
the feeling of one in their portraits of the intensity and the enveloping
mystery of romantic passion. The three lyric pieces may be played
together or apart; if played together, they should follow Berg's order.
In 2023 "Three Lyric Pieces" was one of the winners in a call for
scores by the New York City Contemporary Music Symposium. Ove
300 pieces were submitted for this call.
Year composed: 2016
Duration: 12:00:80
Ensemble type: Keyboard:Piano
Instrumentation: