New Waltzes for Piano

Eric Moe (piano)

Catalog #: TROY0689
Release Date: November 1, 2004
Format: Digital
Instrumental

Eric Moe writes: "The waltz traffics in weightlessness. By adding an extra step to the one-two/left-right of pedestrian movement, it forces the waltzer and listener off the ground and into the air (left-right-UP). Some of these waltzes tackle gravity head on (Roger Zahab's Levitation of pianos during a waltz), others are more insinuatingly buoyant, but all share this attribute. These new waltzes are not exclusively American - there are contributions from Poland (Zygmunt Krauze's Music Box Waltz) and Nigeria (Akin Euba's Study in African Jazz 3) - but they are indebted to vernacular American rhythms which add even more bounce. Their distinguished European ancestry is recognizable, but these waltzes are very much of our time - only lighter. I have revisited Robert Helps' and Robert Moran's Waltz Project of the mid-1970s - half of the 22 waltzes on this CD are from the collection published by C.F. Peters. They include works that have become standards of the repertoire, such as Milton Babbitt's Minute Waltz and Philip Glass' Modern Love Waltz, as well as other gems. The remaining 11 waltzes are new, ten composed especially for this recording, with Ricky Ian Gordon's Waltz a happy discovery. The variety is enormous. Some have a direct connection with jazz: Anthony Cornicello's PostModern Waltz deconstructs a famous McCoy Tyner solo; my own Pulaski Skyway Waltz begins with a quotation from Mal Waldron's Firewaltz, Akin Euba's "African Jazz" study draws from the musical wells of Africa and Vienna, while Andrew Imbrie infuses a one-to-the-bar waltz with the headlong energy of bebop. Lee Hyla's One Moe Time has an improvisational feel, eventually cutting loose ecstatically before returning to its senses. Other waltzes comment trenchantly on the genre itself, like Ron Caltabiano's Character Sketch: About a Waltz. Virgil Thomson's birthday card to Mrs. Efram Zimbalist subverts the waltz rhythm with a thumping duple cross-rhythm in the process of quoting "Happy Birthday." Charles Wuorinen's Self-Similar Waltz operates on a deeper level of wit, reflecting its muscular self in myriad ways; the listening experience is like walking through a set of fun-house mirrors."

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Track Listing

Title Composer Performer
Susan's Waltz Hayes Biggs Eric Moe, piano
Valse Subliminale Wayne Peterson Eric Moe, piano
Valse Mirage Robert Helps Eric Moe, piano
Waltz Andrew Imbrie Eric Moe, piano
Pulaski Skyway Waltz Eric Moe Eric Moe, piano
Ghost Waltz Louis Karchin Eric Moe, piano
Self-Similar Waltz Charles Wuorinen Eric Moe, piano
Red Garnet Waltz Joan Tower Eric Moe, piano
Study in African Jazz 3 Akin Euba Eric Moe, piano
Character Sketch: About a Waltz Ronald Caltabiano Eric Moe, piano
Waltz Roger Sessions Eric Moe, piano
Music Box Waltz Zygmunt Krauze Eric Moe, piano
Waltz Ricky Ian Gordon Eric Moe, piano
Waltz Karl Kohn Eric Moe, piano
Modern Love Waltz Philip Glass Eric Moe, piano
One More Time Lee Hyla Eric Moe, piano
Minute Waltz Milton Babbitt Eric Moe, piano
levitation of pianos during a waltz Roger Zahab Eric Moe, piano
A Waltz for Evelyn Hinrichsen Lou Harrison Eric Moe, piano
Shadow Waltz Mathew Rosenblum Eric Moe, piano
For a Happy Occasion Virgil Thomson Eric Moe, piano
PostModern Waltz Anthony Cornicello Eric Moe, piano

Reviews

  • "...this disc shows there's still plenty of music to be made in an old form."

    – Gramophone

  • "Eric Moe plays with sensitive musicianship and evident satisfaction in the music..."

    – American Record Guide

*Album cover provided for Editorial use only. ©Albany Records. The Albany Imprint is a registered trademark of PARMA Recordings LLC. The views and opinions expressed in this media are those of the artist and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views and opinions held by PARMA Recordings LLC and its label imprints, subsidiaries, and affiliates.