Studies for Player Piano (Nancarrow)
| Studies for Player Piano | |
|---|---|
| by Conlon Nancarrow | |
Conlon Nancarrow
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| Composed | 1948–1992: |
| Movements | 49 |
| Scoring | Player piano, sometimes computer-run player piano or two player pianos. |
The Studies for Player Piano is a series of 49 études for player piano by Mexican composer Conlon Nancarrow. These are some of the best-known and celebrated compositions by Nancarrow, even though they are generally not considered a set of compositions, but rather individual compositions that were given the same title and status. The dates of composition are unknown, but approximate ranges have been given according to best evidence.
Nancarrow's Studies for Player Piano were started when Nancarrow himself was first experimenting with the possibilities of the player piano. Most of these studies were never given a formal premiere and, given that Nancarrow lived his life in relative isolation, his studies became better known after the 80s. Furthermore, most of his studies were arranged for many different ensembles and instruments, including two pianos, small orchestra, string quartet, xylophone, vibraphone and celesta, synthesizers and computers.
It is suspected that the Study No. 3 was Nancarrow's first composition for player piano composed between 1948 and 1949. This study was later compiled from the three initial parts into a five movement suite entitled Boogie-Woogie Suite in 1962. Its fourth movement included fragments of the second movement of Nancarrow's Suite for Orchestra, composed in 1945. It was arranged for piano, piano four-hands, chamber orchestra and small orchestra. This study was expanded and finished as Nancarrow's Piece for Ligeti, in an hommage to György Ligeti on 17 October 1988, at the Hamburgische Staatsoper. Of the two available versions of the third study, the Boogie-Woogie Suite remains the better known and more recorded one. A photocopy of the first version of the study is available at the Lincoln Center Library. The suite was first performed in Mexico City's Palacio de Bellas Artes on 30 July 1962.
The suite consists of five movements featuring different music styles. The first movement features a hasty boogie-woogie in which up to seven layers of melodic and rhythmic structures are superimposed. The second movement features a blues, with a twelve-bar ostinato in the bass line which is repeated ten times. The third movement also has a blues character with canonic passages. The fourth movement features a jazz style, whereas the fifth movement comes back to an even more rushed boogie-woogie.
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