Some of you may know that I’m an active social media user. I firmly believe in putting myself out there to share my music and, in turn, supporting other artists. This is how I came across the music for today’s post.
Today’s blog features a work by composer Alfonso Peduto, whom I recently discovered on Instagram. He posted a video with a sound clip from his work for three pianos called Sequences III: Echoes. I loved what I heard, so I decided to look up the full piece.
Sequences is a set of six piano pieces written for several pianos (Sequences I is written for one piano, Sequences II for two pianos, and so on). In order to make the recordings and videos for his website, Peduto uses an electronic technique called “live looping” – where the sound of the piano is fed realtime to computer software that is set to trigger the looping at specific instances (I know, it’s cool!).
Sequences III: Echoes is the third in the series. As you watch the video, the lower right corner of the screen displays which piano is playing. Piano 1 focuses on the middle of the keyboard, piano 2 plays in the higher register, and piano 3 is all bass. Each section is fairly short and crescendos up before starting with new material.
In Sequences III, Peduto uses a technique called minimalism – where small, repeated musical cells are built in layers. The result is dense texture with interlocking phrases and rhythms. There are gradual changes in the patterns that result in new harmonic worlds. Check out Phrygian Gates (by minimalist composer John Adams) for another example of minimalism in music.
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