Tenzone
Chester Biscardi
About this work:
Tenzone, for two flutes and piano (1975) Dedicated to Toru Takemitsu
Published by Merion Music, Inc./Theodore Presser Co.: No. 144-40066
Recorded: Chester Biscardi • At the Still Point, CRI CD 686
(Robert Dick, Keith Underwood, and Robert Weirich)
A tenzone was a lyric interchange in medieval Italy and Provence (tenson), usually between two poets, concerning topical poetic devices and ideas. This piece itself is a response to the work of Toru Takemitsu, composer, teacher and friend, to whom it is gratefully dedicated. It was first performed by Robert Dick and Keith Underwood, flutes, and Chester Biscardi, piano, at Yale University in 1975 and recorded for CRI with the same flutists and Robert Weirich, piano, in 1979.
Specifically, Tenzone is similar in its lyrical and expressive quality to Takemitsu’s Masque, for two flutes (1959), which is in two parts, Continu and Incidental, both traditionally measured and notated. It differs, however, in its overall construction. It is in one continuous movement, intermixing sections traditionally measured and notated with those “as fast as possible” and unmeasured. It differs also in its subtle use of extended, more recently developed flute techniques which, along with the repetition of tones or cells that establish rich, sonorous centers, create the timbral, harmonic and dramatic motion of the work. A piano was added in order to extend the acoustical range and direct the natural development and flow of the music.
Year composed: 1975
Duration: 00:09:00
Ensemble type: Chamber or Jazz Ensemble, Without Voice:Other Combinations, 2-5 players
Instrumentation: 2 Flute, 1 Piano