Homage To Alfred by Malcolm Smith

Home / Music / Compositions / Piano / Homage To Alfred

Homage To Alfred for piano (1998/9) 3'49"

In memory of Alfred Schnittke (1934-1998)

This quirky piece has many twists and unexpected turns, just like the music of its dedicatee. It begins with a noble figure in canon, which then becomes a bassline for the jazzy Second Subject. Like many of my compositions, it contains harmonic poetry with a lyrical developmental middle section, which follows a quotation from the start of Schnittke's amazing Piano Quintett. After this the initial canon returns before the final Preciso mad rush quotes another related theme on the name B-A-C-H that he used in that piece and elsewhere (also used in my own Melon Variations). There is lots of other trickery going on if you care to look at the score (soon to be scanned and added here). I presented the manuscript to his wife the pianist Irina Schnittke backstage in The Green Room at London's Wigmore Hall after her concert there on 1999-12-20.

Play/Download "Homage To Alfred" [4.8MB .ogg file]

Tags: groovy, virtuosic, Contemporary, harmonic poems

[Recorded 2001-08-04 14:00 in Studio 8, Dartington Hall using two AKG C1000S mics into Tascam DA-P1 portable DAT recorder]
{Steinway baby grand piano - Malcolm Smith}

This version presented here is the best take on the best sounding piano, albeit with some minor edits, recorded on my last day at Dartington when my practice level was right up there (coincidentally three years and a day after his death on August 3rd, 1998). On 2011-06-04, two months short of a decade later, I took the liberty of digitally fixing a few irksome pauses and errors so you don't suffer listening to them each time. I know, Henry, I know... but the recordings where I miraculously managed to play correctly right through were on poor-sounding pianos. I also copied the manic ending from a better retake, and added reverb since the original room was small. Sadly I couldn't fix the rattley high G key.

[Scores (and maybe one day more recordings) will eventually be available]

Your feedback is appreciated (but no need to bother asking "Where are the MP3's?")