PIANO FIGURES TEN SHORT PIECES FOR PIANO

Transcription

1 GEORGE BENJAMIN PIANO FIGURES TEN SHORT PIECES FOR PIANO George Benjamin, piano Limited Edition, signed by the composer

2 GEORGE BENJAMIN Born in 1960, George Benjamin started to play the piano at the age of seven, and began composing almost immediately. In 1976, he entered the Paris Conservatoire to study composition with Olivier Messiaen and piano with Yvonne Loriod, after which he worked with Alexander Goehr at King s College, Cambridge. His first orchestral work,, was performed at the BBC Proms when he was only 20; since then his works have continued to be played across the world. In recent years there have been major retrospectives of his work in London, Tokyo, Brussels, Berlin, Strasbourg and Madrid. The centre-point of a portrait at the 2006 Festival d Automne in Paris was his first operatic work,, collaboration with playwright Martin Crimp which has toured widely on both sides of the Atlantic since its premiere and won the Royal Philharmonic Society s 2008 Award for Large-Scale Composition. It received its London premiere in a new production - a collaboration between the Opera Group and London Sinfonietta - at the Royal Opera House in February His most recent work, for piano and orchestra, was the Roche commission for the 2008 Lucerne Festival, where he was composer in residence, and was premiered there by Pierre-Laurent Aimard and the Cleveland Orchestra under Franz Welser-Möst. He is currently working on a second operatic collaboration with Martin Crimp, to be premiered at the Aix en Provence festival in 2012.

3 Photograph : Brant Ward,

4 He appears regularly as a conductor with the world s leading ensembles and orchestras, and recent seasons have included engagements with London Sinfonietta (with whom he has worked on a regular basis for almost 30 years), Ensemble Modern, Ensemble Intercontemporain, BBC Symphony, Philharmonia and the Berlin Philharmonic and Royal Concertgebouw orchestras. In 1999, he made his operatic debut conducting in Brussels and he has conducted numerous world premieres, including works by Rihm, Chin, Grisey and Ligeti. In January 2010, there will be extensive celebrations of Benjamin s music in San Francisco and London, marking his 50th birthday, and in June he will be in residence at the Ojai festival in California and at the Aldeburgh festival. George Benjamin was the founding curator of the Southbank s Meltdown Festival, and was artistic consultant to the BBC s retrospective of twentieth century music,. He is a Chevalier dans l ordre des Arts et Lettres, a member of the Bavarian Academy of Fine Arts, and has been awarded honorary fellowships by the Guildhall School, the Royal Academy and the Royal College of Music. Since 2001 he has been the Henry Purcell Professor of Composition at King s College, London. George Benjamin s music is published by Faber Music and his works are recorded on Nimbus Records.

5 Ten short pieces for piano solo (2004) 1. Spell 2. Knots 3. In the Mirror 4. Interruptions 5. Song 6. Hammers 7. Alone 8. Mosaic 9. Around the Corner 10. Whirling was conceived for the hands of young pianists. Most of the movements are not technically challenging, though a few do require a degree of virtuosity. At all times, however, my desire was to state ideas and capture moods in the most direct and economic way possible. was commissioned by Philharmonie Luxembourg, and the first performance was given there by my friend Pierre-Laurent Aimard on 18 May George Benjamin Recorded by Nimbus Records at Wyastone, Monmouth UK, 30 January 2010 c 2010 Wyastone Estate Limited 2010 Wyastone Estate Limited

6 This CD is limited to 100 copies They were available on 7 February 2010 at the concert given in the Queen Elizabeth Hall, London in celebration of the composer s 50 th birthday.

7 GEORGE BENJAMIN PIANO FIGURES, played by George Benjamin GEORGE BENJAMIN PIANO FIGURES Ten short pieces for piano solo (2004) 1 Spell Knots In the Mirror Interruptions Song Hammers Alone Mosaic Around the Corner Whirling 0.49 Celebrating the composer s 50 th birthday Promotional Copy. Not for resale GEORGE BENJAMIN PIANO FIGURES DDD Made in the UK by Nimbus Records c & 2010 Wyastone Estate Limited