classica

Tristan, Isolde (2009)
for 2 pianos
NOTES ABOUT THE INTERPRETATION
This piece was composed in celebration of the Akademie Schloss
Solitude’s 20th year anniversary, to be premiered as part of a
series of miniatures all beginning and ending with the “Tristan”
chord from Wagner’s opera.
In the pedalling indications, which are marked with a gradually
upward-slanting line, it is intended that each player depress the
pedal before playing a new chord, and then gradually release it over
about 3 seconds whilst sustaining the written pitches with fingers,
thus creating an exaggerated (but smooth) diminuendo.
The Da Capo return to the initial chord should not be treated in any
special manner, rather it should be played exactly as all the
others, without any fermata or exaggerated fade-out.
Should a special intonation of the pianos be desired, the two sharp
notes may be lowered somewhat to approach a pure minor triad with
the B-natural, and the F may be raised to make a 45/32 ratio with
the B. However, it is not necessary that the two pianos be tuned
identically or precisely, some differences of shading between them
may even be desirable.
Berlin, 4 August 2009

Tristan, Isolde (2009)

Chopin - Nocturne Number 1 Opus 9

Tristan & Isolde, opening of the third act
transcribed for piano by Jeromos Kamphuis
Leo Svirsky, piano

Richard Wagner: Tristan & Isolde

Schubert - Serenade "Leise Flehen Meine Lieder"

Canadian composer Marc Sabat (*1965) is based in Berlin since 1999. He has made pieces for concert and installation settings, drawing inspiration from investigations of the sounding and perception of Just Intonation and of various music traditions — folk, experimental and classical. His pieces are presented and broadcast internationally at festivals of new music including the Donaueschinger Musiktage, Klangspuren Schwaz, MaerzMusik, Huddersfield, Darmstadt, Musica Viva and Carnegie Hall. Scores and artist editions are available from Plainsound Music Edition. Recent recordings include the LP “Les Duresses”, released by care of editions (Berlin) as well as discs on the labels Populist Records (Los Angeles) and World Edition (Köln).

Sabat studied composition, violin and mathematics at the University of Toronto, at the Juilliard School in New York, and at McGill University, as well as working privately with Malcolm Goldstein, James Tenney and Walter Zimmermann. Together with Wolfgang von Schweinitz he has developed the Extended Helmholtz-Ellis JI Pitch Notation and is a pioneer of music written and performed in extended Just Intonation. He teaches at the Universität der Künste Berlin, and as a guest at the California Institute of the Arts, the Escola Superior in Barcelona, the Janacek Academy in Brno and the Paris Conservatoire. In 2010, he was an artist-in-residence of the Villa Aurora in Los Angeles, followed in 2011 by a one year residency at the German Academy in Rome, Villa Massimo.