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QUIET STONE MUSIC BY LAURIE ALTMAN Every new musical work strives for some form of precision; perhaps put more bluntly, a precision of sensation and substance. Such a voyage of discovery results in an idiosyncratic yet careful choice of both instrumental coloration and musical and stylistic expression necessary to say in its entirety exactly what is meant to be said. To me (as the composer of this music) »Quiet Stone« appears as a CD that does not sound as overtly »classical« in tone as my other three productions at NEOS: the compositions on this CD are noticeably shorter and less sophisticated; the works are suitable for including improvised passages and more spontaneous gestures. During my time as a composer I came into contact with a wide range of musical colours, styles and uniqueness that knowingly or even unknowingly emerge as the texture as well as the underlying structure of new works. Perhaps »Quiet Stone« reflects such influences. the first piece Winter's Passage, depicts a winter day that – despite the cold wind – touched me with warmth and amazed me. Andreas Kühnrich's haunting cello plays a part in the work; a windswept voice telling its own story. La Musique des Troubadours connects a past with a present: a 12th-century poem by Guiraut Riquier and its (reachingly powerful) sensibility support Isabel Pfefferkorn's performance, which is inspired by ancient song forms. A form of expression that makes use of sparse and thin textures also contributes to this. The Three miniatures are dated September 11, 2001. Nothing needs to be explained. The rest is – sad – history. Default twist approaches three American standards in a thoroughly unorthodox approach, giving their glorious lyrics an entirely different melodic contour and shape. I found that providing diverse melodic alternatives only served to increase the intensity and accuracy of the lyrics because they were no longer tied to the melodies that so many of us have become accustomed to listening to. Anders Miolin's 13-string guitar lends Eyes Light a unique sound character and acoustic sharpness. Anders Miolin gives a tender and wistful effect to this work, originally composed for piano, which he has reinvented for his instrument. The Japanese suite draws her inspiration from a trip to Japan three years ago with my wife Jeannine. I looked for a range of colors in these four works: from the delicate to the feverish, from the spatial to the complex, with improvisation as a key structural component. Prelude #17, the last piece of my Piano Preludes, sets a jazzy, compelling and energetic framework in its short span of time. Being the last piece in the series seemed to propel its completion towards the final end in a breathless and sympathetic manner. J's Way portrays my wife Jeannine as the muse she was to me on the day I composed the work. Her inspiration is everlasting and I continue to search for different combinations of sounds and textures to express my love and fascination for her constant presence in our lives together. Persona is a tribute to the great Swedish director Ingmar Bergman and his film of the same name. An intense personal study of the human psyche, the film, like my music, reflects on human silence (Elizabeth, an actress, stopped speaking one night in the middle of her performance and has remained mute ever since), lending the piece its space and the very unresolved character inherent in the musical interplay between guitar and piano. 50 MM is a present for my friend Matthias Mueller on his 50th birthday. Free, relaxed, spontaneous and interactive ... with a different intensity and character than the rest of the works on the CD. Yet the work reflects the way a piece of music moves both within and outside of itself as it finds its way back to where it started, or perhaps to where it never started. Laurie Altman program:
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