Abstract
"Unsung Herstories" is a suite of piano pieces about five women: Lilith (the first, pre-Eve woman), Ada Lovelace, Julia Pastrana, Emmeline Pankhurst and Delia Derbyshire. The duration is 30 minutes. The premiere was given by Argentinian concert artist Diana Lopszyc at the Cosmo Rodewald Concert Hall, Manchester on 4 February 2016. Subsequent performance: 6 Feb 2016 Elizabeth Gaskell House, Manchester; 30 Oct 2016 Usina del Arte, Buenos Aires; 15 May 2017 Cherkasky, Ukraine; 18 May 2017 Kiev Festival "Premieres of the Season".
Duration: 25 minutes.
Each piece explores an aspect of the marginalisation of women through an historical figure, as well as exploring marginalised or seldom-used techniques of piano playing.
"Lilith". According to Abrahamic myth, Lilith was fashioned at the same time as Adam and from the same substance, and, therefore, was equal to him. But Adam did not appreciate an equal partnership, and so Lilith was banished from Eden, and Eve was created from Adam's rib. Lilith was the ur-woman, without any sisterhood or maternal example. How should she act, what should she feel, and who is that only other person, Adam? Anxiety and confusion are musically expressed through numerous hand-clusters juxtaposed with silent-film style piano playing.
"Ada Lovelace", being the first person to write computer programs, explores not only the precision of her mathematical mind, but also the fact that she played the piano and was part of the Byron family of artists. This music conflates these elements into a whirlwind toccata of machine-like sounds as well as scraping the piano keys with paper cards (the first medium to store computer programs).
"Julia Pastrana" lived much of her life in a 19thC travelling exhibition, being displayed for her condition of hypertrichosis - exceptional hairiness - and for her exaggerated facial features. Marrying her exhibitor and bearing their child, she died at the age of 25, with her mummified remains continuing to be exhibited, and then unceremoniously discarded. Throughout the music, the piano is knocked upon and rolled with the fingers, creating a funereal but serenely poised atmosphere.
"Emmeline Pankhurst" was savvy when using social media of her day, knowing that her "Deeds, not Words" suffrage campaign would draw attention by being photographically performative. The music is ragtime -- jaunty, confident -- but it becomes increasingly restricted until it is "imprisoned" for its individuality by preventing the hands from playing through various means of restriction. Ultimately, the pianist uses her/his mouth to complete the piece.
"Delia Derbyshire" was a powerhouse in the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, and one of the greatest British exponents of electronic musique concrète and synthesis, although she is mostly credited with the electronic arrangement of Ron Grainer's Doctor Who theme. This final piece explores endlessly ringing sonorities of the piano along with a macro-time stretched fragment* from one of Delia's own pieces, the opening of her incidental music for the film Two Houses, played through a loudspeaker alongside the piano. The degraded film stock from which the fragment was taken affords a strange, lost-world patina.
Duration: 25 minutes.
Each piece explores an aspect of the marginalisation of women through an historical figure, as well as exploring marginalised or seldom-used techniques of piano playing.
"Lilith". According to Abrahamic myth, Lilith was fashioned at the same time as Adam and from the same substance, and, therefore, was equal to him. But Adam did not appreciate an equal partnership, and so Lilith was banished from Eden, and Eve was created from Adam's rib. Lilith was the ur-woman, without any sisterhood or maternal example. How should she act, what should she feel, and who is that only other person, Adam? Anxiety and confusion are musically expressed through numerous hand-clusters juxtaposed with silent-film style piano playing.
"Ada Lovelace", being the first person to write computer programs, explores not only the precision of her mathematical mind, but also the fact that she played the piano and was part of the Byron family of artists. This music conflates these elements into a whirlwind toccata of machine-like sounds as well as scraping the piano keys with paper cards (the first medium to store computer programs).
"Julia Pastrana" lived much of her life in a 19thC travelling exhibition, being displayed for her condition of hypertrichosis - exceptional hairiness - and for her exaggerated facial features. Marrying her exhibitor and bearing their child, she died at the age of 25, with her mummified remains continuing to be exhibited, and then unceremoniously discarded. Throughout the music, the piano is knocked upon and rolled with the fingers, creating a funereal but serenely poised atmosphere.
"Emmeline Pankhurst" was savvy when using social media of her day, knowing that her "Deeds, not Words" suffrage campaign would draw attention by being photographically performative. The music is ragtime -- jaunty, confident -- but it becomes increasingly restricted until it is "imprisoned" for its individuality by preventing the hands from playing through various means of restriction. Ultimately, the pianist uses her/his mouth to complete the piece.
"Delia Derbyshire" was a powerhouse in the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, and one of the greatest British exponents of electronic musique concrète and synthesis, although she is mostly credited with the electronic arrangement of Ron Grainer's Doctor Who theme. This final piece explores endlessly ringing sonorities of the piano along with a macro-time stretched fragment* from one of Delia's own pieces, the opening of her incidental music for the film Two Houses, played through a loudspeaker alongside the piano. The degraded film stock from which the fragment was taken affords a strange, lost-world patina.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Type | piano music |
| Media of output | musical score |
| Publisher | Composers Edition |
| Number of pages | 47 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9790570682041 |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 9790570682041 |
| Publication status | Published - 4 Feb 2016 |
Keywords
- feminism, piano music, equality, suffrage