MUSIC SCORE - Piano Solo

Listen to the composer perform it here on YouTube:
http: //youtu.be/aKvA0FUWOg4

Lopez (1950 - ) initially conceived of Pieces from a Distant Land as a set of relatively easy-to-perform tonal pieces in response to a request by his mother in the early 1980's for such a collection of pieces. At first these occurred to Lopez in the manner of short single movement works from the Romantic Period, similar to Mendelssohn's Songs Without Words and Chopin's Nocturnes or Preludes. Over time the concept evolved into something more personal and extended beyond the Romantic character piece model. Distant Land was meant to evoke none other than the tonal landscape of his youth and early training. As the series of pieces evolved over time, the title came to reflect a more personal story to be told over three volumes, or Series, of these Pieces. The total Series (I, II, III) describe a stylistic journey from Lopez' early tonal creative work in Series I, through more advanced tonality and experimentation in Series II, to a mature avant-garde voice in Series III which integrates elements of both traditional and experimental styles and techniques. As of January, 2009 there were 15 pieces from Series I which were either complete, partially notated, or in sketches. Only a handful of Series II have been contemplated and sketched to date, and just a few sketches from Series III have been jotted down. Lopez contemplates that Series III may comprise several sub volumes, or albums, in which his Moment Pieces for Extended Piano (Piano with Digital Effects) may be included as one such album.

The first piece in Series I is one of the earliest pieces of Distant Land. The earliest manuscript dates from February 1988 and bears the title "Voluntary" as originally conceived. In order to keep the piece relatively simple, it was completed only through measure 31 whereupon it was customary for Lopez to repeat the piece exactly from the beginning. Reaching measure 31 the second time, Lopez would end on the major mode by simply replacing the C-naturals with C-sharps in the ascending closing arpeggio. Lopez performed this piece several times in concert in this form. During the years following, however, Lopez already had felt instinctively that the piece in this form was incomplete. By the year 2000 Lopez was beginning to think of the Distant Land as a more involved collection, and his mother was also increasingly unable to read music due to macular degeneration. The confluence of these factors resulted in freeing Lopez from the original charge to keep the collection short and simple as in a form simple enough for his mother to play. While preparing for a concert in December 2008, Lopez decided to extend the first piece properly with a varied repetition. The result is No. 1 in its current form as published herein. This is the "authorized" version of the piece. Lopez had jotted sketches of the variation from about 2006, but the piece was not put in its final form until 2008 just a few days before its first performance on that concert in December, 2008.
About the Author: Peter Dickson Lopez (1950 - ) American composer and pianist, is best known for his traditional, though eclectic style. Peter began studying piano at the age of six. His passion for composition emerged early when as a child he began to write pieces emulating the style of Bach whom he was studying at the time. For Peter, performance and composition merged into one as he continued his studies in piano and composition in college. Indeed, this view of performance and composition was echoed by Ralph Shapey with whom Peter worked as a fellowship composer at Tanglewood: Composition is performance on paper! Prior to Tanglewood, where Peter also met Gunther Schuller and attended Leonard Bernstein's conducting classes, Peter had already earned his Ph.D. degree in Music Composition from the University of California at Berkeley. During his last two years in the doctoral program from 1976-78, Peter lived in Paris, France after having been awarded the prestigious George Ladd Paris Prize from the U.C. Berkeley Music Department. During this sojourn, Peter composed day and night and went to many concerts where he had the opportunity to hear the music of Xenakis, Messiaen, Boulez, Berio, Stockhausen, and many other European composers, often with those legendary composers in attendance. The personal connection Peter feels with this legacy has broadened throughout the years: as piano student of Edward Shadbolt at the University of the Pacific in Stockton (Ed had been a student of Béla Bartók and Zoltán Kodály); as composition student under Joaquin Nin-Culmell (himself an internationally known concert pianist and composer who had also studied with such luminaries as Manuel de Falla and Paul Dukas); and as a master class piano student of Karl Ulrich Schnabel (son of renowned Artur Schnabel). Pieces From A Distant Land, which comprises several volumes ("Series"), dates from 1988 and remains an ongoing active project. Stylistically, these pieces range from tonal works in the Romantic tradition (Series I), to avant-garde and experimental works in subsequent Series. It is precisely this propensity to explore and incorporate techniques from a variety of sources that prompted a colleague at Tanglewood to comment, "You have the fortune (or misfortune) of falling through the cracks, of not belonging to any particular 'school'." Lopez' works have been performed in Europe and across the U.S. Learn more about the composer at http: //www.peterdicksonlopez.com.