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Swiss
Dances
for four-handed piano, M.635 (2003-4)
LISTEN TO THE FIRST EXCERPT (end of
the Ländler) :
LISTEN TO THE SECOND EXCERPT
(beginning of the Polka) :
LISTEN TO THE THIRD EXCERPT (Dance
of the Wild Man) :
Performers :
Dominique Derron and Pius Urech, piano
This series of 6 Swiss Dances is made of the following pieces : Ländler, Coraules, Polka, Dwarves Gallop, Totentanz
(Dance of Death) and Dance of the wild man. The first three are written on
themes inspired by the Swiss Folklore, whereas the last three are more freely
inspired, though referring to traditional elements of Switzerland. The first
performance took place with the piano duo Dominique Derron
and Pius Urech on July 15th, 2004, in
Neuchâtel.
Duration
of the work : approximately 15 minutes
Commentary of the work by the composer :
These
6 Swiss Dances have been written in 2003-4, at the suggestion of the Piano Duo
of Dominique Derron and Pius Urech
to write pieces with dancing character for four-handed piano. After having been
inspired in other works by different traditions of music (music of the Far
East, of Central Asia, Klezmer music, etc.), I wanted
to explore some themes taken from the Swiss patrimony.
While
the Ländler and the Polka transform and vary thematic
fragments which are close to the Swiss folkloric music, the only piece near to
the original figures is the one called “Coraules”,
based on dances, bearing the same name, of the Gruyère
region.
As
for the three following pieces, they are as well inspired by dance movements
used during the 19th century (however without basing themselves on
specific musical motives of the folklore), as by typically Swiss subjects : the Dwarves, of which the most famous species
proliferates in some gardens, are well known for their jovial and uncultivated
dances. In Switzerland are to be found some of the most ancient and famous pictural examples of the Dance of Death. They show human
beings of every ages and conditions, confronted to Death, which leads them in
its horrifying and icy round dance. At last, the Wild Man, which is to be found
in the imaginary of many European countries under different forms (some covered
with leaves, others with fur, and the Winter Man), is also known in
Switzerland, in different metamorphoses too, among which the terrifying masks
of the Lötschental region.
Laurent Mettraux, June
17th, 2004