1/4 tone piano concert

Anton Rovner wrote recently about the historic 1/4 tone piano concert
performed last November in Moscow.

His review of the concert is in the most recent edition of Jacky
Ligon's _Microtonal Activist_ ezine:

http://tma.asgarddesign.net/TMA_vol_3_pg_04.htm

I had a few comments of my own on the concert. Perhaps, at some
point, we can put some of this music up on the Web:

_________________________________________________________

Hello Anton!

The quarter-tone piano music tape from Moscow was really terrific. I
really enjoyed it. Many of my impressions were somewhat similar to
yours (which I read again) but some were different as well.

I really enjoyed the Roland Moser _Cabinet_. I think he is quite
talented in microtonality. He was able to really feature the
microtonality as a structural element of his music and it was heard
and utilized clearly. I enjoyed the Johann Strauss quotations, and
other peculiarities reflected through the 1/4 tone prism. The fast
section was really wonderful. I thought it was a terrific work.

The Ivan Wyschnegradsky _Integrations_ was quite a strong piece but I
didn't feel it really emphasized the microtonal aspect all that
much... until well into the piece where some clusters could *only*
have been done with something other than 12 equal.

I didn't care much for the Sergei Pavlenko _Several Boarderline
Conditions._ It was quite a noisy work with little regard for the
subtleties of the microtonal pitches. Lots of sound, and
mostly "nothing"... at least for *me* anyway. There was some nice
figuration between the pianos here and there, but it tended to be
sporadic. Also, I didn't really feel in all the noise, that the
microtonal aspects of the 1/4 tone pianos was really featured all
that much.

Victor Ekimovsky's _Vers Libre_ I felt showed off the 1/4 tones
nicely. He seemed to know how to "let them speak" even though the
piece was in a more or less "traditional modernist" mode. Although
there was a good feeling for microtonality, I felt there wasn't
always enough preparation of the ear sometimes...too much activity
going on.

The Igor Kefaldi _For 4X4_ for 1/4 tone pianos and amplified pianos
was *very* interesting. The attacks made it sound like a little
music box or "machine." (I believe you mentioned this also). He
uses the 1/4 tones in an unusual way to create *timbre.* Nice piece,
with an engaging tonal background sometimes and *very* clever
rhythmically. I thought the microtonal aspects were *really*
featured in this work even though it was quite complex throughout.
Very clever.

The Charles Ives _Three Pieces_ is a classic, and I noticed again how
*integral* the microtonality is to these pieces. There is
nothing "grafted on" here... it is as much a part of Ives' style in
these pieces as anything else... unusually so.

So, this was a great concert, and there were a couple of really
magnificent microtonal pieces on it. I think we agree on most of it,
with a few exceptions here and there!

best,

Joseph