David Jennings
PRELUDE AND FUGUE Op.6 for solo piano
Goodmusic GM106
This is strikingly different in style to all my other piano music to date. Employing twelve-note procedures throughout, it is to some degree a response to newer musical influences encountered at university. The Prelude was composed in 1992 and was originally intended to stand on its own. In 1999 I decided to add a Fugue, having been impressed by Bach’s Prelude and Fugue in A minor from Book 2 of his "48 Preludes and Fugues". Unfortunately, however, I had to put the work to one side in order to concentrate on other projects. The Fugue remained unfinished until 2010, when, having found it amongst my papers, I finally added the last two pages!
The Prelude explores the sonority of the instrument, especially with regard to the sustaining pedal. This movement combines twelve-note procedures with jazz-inflected harmony and juxtaposes lyrical ideas with more aggressive ones. The Fugue has a tense, slightly ironic feel about it and ends with a strongly assertive stretto section (where the fugal entries overlap). The work is dedicated to the composer Gary Higginson, a pupil of Edmund Rubbra.
Duration about 5½ minutes - 12 pages - Difficulty: Recital level
A recording of David Jennings' piano music is available on Divine Art CD DDA25110
The Prelude explores the sonority of the instrument, especially with regard to the sustaining pedal. This movement combines twelve-note procedures with jazz-inflected harmony and juxtaposes lyrical ideas with more aggressive ones. The Fugue has a tense, slightly ironic feel about it and ends with a strongly assertive stretto section (where the fugal entries overlap). The work is dedicated to the composer Gary Higginson, a pupil of Edmund Rubbra.
Duration about 5½ minutes - 12 pages - Difficulty: Recital level
A recording of David Jennings' piano music is available on Divine Art CD DDA25110
