Three Pieces for Piano I. Fanfares II. Reflection III. Soar solo piano 2006 duration 14’00” The piano is rather limited in terms of timbre and tone color when compared to other instruments. As I began to sketch my ideas for Three Pieces for Piano, I decided to challenge myself to focus on color and timbre using only notes played on the piano keyboard. Inspired by the piano music of Debussy, Messiaen, and Ligeti, and the music of “spectral” composers such as Gerard Grisey and Tristan Murail which blurs the line between harmony and timbre, these three pieces are connected by the similar ways in which notes are combined to form sonorities and gestures. At certain points in the piece, I combine distinct harmonies creating composite chords, while at other moments, I use one group of notes to subtly add color and shading to another, more prominent collection. The second process results in the many bell-like sounds and cloudy gestures heard throughout the piece. My goal was to straddle the line between harmonies and gestures that sound together as composites and those exhibiting a more timbral quality. In the first piece, Fanfares, I not only tried to capture the celebratory aspect of a fanfare with brilliant flourishes and familiar rhythmic patterns, but I also placed the idea of a fanfare into other contexts. At times, the fanfare gesture is presented in a very quiet and delicate manner, calling to mind a nostalgic reminiscence of a past event. At other points, the fanfare is extremely agitated, while at others, it is presented in the lower register, seeming to emerge from underground. I chose the title for the second piece, Reflection, for its dual meaning of light bouncing off a surface and the act of contemplation or meditation. The piece focuses on a distinct musical object which recurs throughout. With each appearance however, the color of the object is subtly changed, as if one were examining it from multiple angles, each revealing a slightly different shade. The musical object represents an idea that is molded and refined through contemplation. The final piece, Soar, closes the work with an imaginary flight through a crisp night sky. Three Pieces for Piano was commissioned by Jana Mason and her husband, Richard Anderson, and is dedicated to pianist Ji-eun Yun who gave its premiere in Urbana, IL on 2/21/2006 Listen to a live recording of the first movement, Fanfares, by Jieun Yun. View a score excerpt http://edmartincomposer.com/pdf_scores/fanfares.pdfshapeimage_1_link_0
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Ed Martin with University of Illinois pianists following the 2007 21st Century Piano Composition Competition Recital.  Spring 2006.
 
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