one piano

Here’s a minute or so from a big piano piece I wrote a couple of years ago called The Will of the Tones.

It’s a strange title, but it does make sense. I’m fascinated by the German Romantic notion of music as some kind of living organism, animated by the inexorable drive or ‘will’ of the sounds which make it up (der Tonwille). It’s like the way that genes blindly but powerfully shape the development of the bodies of which they are part. In this extract, a little way into the piece, the strong, bright ringing sounds of the opening are just beginning to multiply and evolve into something with a life and an energy all its own. The piece was written for Matthew Schellhorn, who gave the première in St Martin-in-the-Fields, London, in November 2004, and it’s Matthew playing on this recording.

To listen, click here: will of the tones.

To read a review of this piece from The Times click here.
You can read the programme note for The Will of the Tones on the programme notes page. If you’re interested to hear a CD of the complete piece (which is about 10 minutes long) and other music by Jeremy Thurlow, or to be sent a score, post me a message (see Comments, listed on the right under Categories).

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And for a complete contrast, here’s the opening of a piano piece I wrote some time ago, called Strangers on a shore.

It was the first music I wrote after moving into a Scottish fishing village. Our house was right by the sea, which I could hear while I was composing. It’s rather simpler and gentler than the two pieces posted above. I hope you enjoy at least one of the pieces posted here! (Again, you can read the programme notes; or to leave a comment or request a recording or a score, go to Comments.)

Click here: strangers.

Music by Jeremy Thurlow.