VIDEO: Södermalm Fantasy Ballade by Michael Sayers

[michael_sayers]

Hi Everyone,

Södermalm Fantasy Ballade is a piano solo composition influenced by the sights and sounds of Södermalm, which is one of the many islands here that comprise Stockholm.  In the music you may hear, among other things, the fountains of Mariatorget, and also Maria Magdalena kyrka.

This is a reading of the work by pianist Tim Adrianson in November of 2013.  In all details the recording isn't exactly what is notated in the score.  This may be partly in consequence that I, as a believer in musical freedom, explained that it is fine for Tim - in order to achieve an interpretation he fully is satisfied with - to not adhere to the score.  There have been some changes to the score since the first copyright, and after the registration of the latest edition is complete I may be back here with a link for those who are interested in downloading a copy of score.

The piano used was a Mason & Hamlin grand.  The music is accompanied by images of Södermalm.  All comments, observations and critiques are welcome.

Mvh,
Michael

[j_menz]

So, let me get this right....

You're not the pianist, you're the composer. But it's not quite what you wrote and anyway you've changed it since then anyway.

What exactly are we giving feedback on? The pictures?  - They're lovely, but then I'm not much of a photography critic.

[michael_sayers]

Greetings j_menz,

The degree of variation from what is notated in the first edition is minuscule, and the interpretation is extremely close to what I hear in my mind.  I wasn't entirely sure what to expect, as all decisions about tempo are indicated to be based on the instincts of the pianist, yet Tim Adrianson was specifically invited to record this and, given his insight as an interpreter of music, I anticipated that it would be very close to my personal interpretation of the work.

Given the high level of agreement between the recorded interpretation and the composer's personal interpretive ideas, is access to the score of the first edition really necessary to have a response to the content of the recording, as it seems this may be the case?

The second edition, which is not what is recorded here, has harmonic changes for a sequence near the end.  The changes are not particularly significant.

The island of Södermalm is very beautiful and ingratiating, no doubt about it.


Mvh,
Michael

[michael_sayers]

Hi j_menz,

I am hoping to further our discussion.  A score seems to be needed to evaluate the audio.  The pages of the score are viewable here:

https://www.michaelsayers.com/sodermalmfantasyballade.html

If the images are not of sufficiently high resolution then a pdf can be found here:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/0i6deybtas8bpgq/AAARCev1Cf4XIsa_cpVfm77sa

I'm looking forward to your feedback.


Mvh,
Michael

[ronde_des_sylphes]

There are certainly some nice and colourful moments in the piece. I do find it slightly amorphous, though. I'm not sure why, perhaps I don't find the development of motivic material particularly sophisticated. It occurs to me that most composers' primary concern at any given time will be either melody, harmony or rhythm, and I suspect your primary concern is sonority. Talking of sonority, I heard two definite influences, one being, perhaps unsurprisingly in the context, Nyiregyhazi, and also stylistic echoes of the waves in the second Liszt Legende (opening of the B min Ballade perhaps as well). In any case, it was interesting to listen to, and the pianist's performance is good. Thanks for posting.

[michael_sayers]

There are certainly some nice and colourful moments in the piece. I do find it slightly amorphous, though. I'm not sure why, perhaps I don't find the development of motivic material particularly sophisticated. It occurs to me that most composers' primary concern at any given time will be either melody, harmony or rhythm, and I suspect your primary concern is sonority. Talking of sonority, I heard two definite influences, one being, perhaps unsurprisingly in the context, Nyiregyhazi, and also stylistic echoes of the waves in the second Liszt Legende (opening of the B min Ballade perhaps as well). In any case, it was interesting to listen to, and the pianist's performance is good. Thanks for posting.

Hi ronde_des_sylphes,

There are leitmotif elements and thematic transformations which connect the sections.  For instance, the melodic content of the material which begins with the dotted rhythms and which is after the conclusion of the ff opening is very similar to that of the chorale which doesn't use a dotted rhythm.

You are quite right about the 2nd Liszt Legende - the music was floating in the back of my mind when I was improvising the composition, which really is what Södermalm Fantasy Ballade is: an improvisation, then insertion of the chorale music which was composed first within the short music sketchbook type composition Reverie, and then a short improvisation on a later date which generated the finale.

Nyiregyhazi of course I admire greatly but he isn't very much of a compositional or pianistic influence.  Back in the 1990s when I came across the 2-LP Liszt set and played it for my mother, her reaction was to ask when I had recorded it.  The big influencing experience for me was when I was playing Bach's W.T.C. I at the age of twelve and an external force took control of my body.  While I passively observed, it transformed some of the music into a monumental "Prelude, Chorale and Allegro", and in grand 19th century pianistic style with massive dynamic range, rolled chords, asynchronization of voices and significant tempo fluctuation and variation of tempo.  Back then I didn't even know what a 19th century pianist was or that the 19th century pianists and composers interpreted music without the rules of today's pianists, but that experience as a 12 year old liberated me as an interpreter of music.

I am glad that in some ways you like the composition!