Stillness, Concentrate – considerations of solo piano music by J. K. Randall and Keith Eisenbrey, performed by Keith Eisenbrey.
Music to be considered:
“…..such words as it were vain to close…..” (1977) J. K. Randall (1929-2014)
This astonishing piece entered my life in 1980 or so as the companion in score of Ben Boretz’s (“… my chart shines high where the blue milks upset …”). Although I have performed Ben’s piece many times, “such words” has always terrified me. Written entirely in pitch-class and rhythmic unison, its transparence to every microgram of relative weight and to every twitch of metrical precision is so extreme that it wasn’t until a few years ago that I could bring myself to dive in. It is one of a handful of works whose influence I feel in everything I have done in music since. I look forward to sharing it with you.
J (2014), Another (2015), and “Welcome to my planet. I come in peace.” (2012) Keith Eisenbrey
J was written in memory of J. K. Randall, Another to celebrate the 80th birthday of Ben Boretz.
Welcome to my planet. I come in peace. is for me to speak to you.
“Was not writing poetry a secret transaction, a voice answering a voice? So that all this chatter and praise and blame and meeting people who admired one and meeting people who did not admire one was as ill suited as could be to the thing itself a voice answering a voice.” Virginia Woolf, from “Orlando”.