Hommage an Ursula [piano solo]
Piano Solo - Digital Sheet Music

Piano Solo - Level 5 - Digital Download

SKU: A0.1335536

Composed by Juan María Solare. 20th Century,21st Century,Classical,Contemporary,Contest,Festival. Score. 19 pages. Juan Maria Solare #921371. Published by Juan Maria Solare (A0.1335536).

"Hommage to Ursula" is a piano piece in memory of Ursula Görsch (1932-2023). The piece is based on the six "sounding letters" of her last name (GERSCH, where the O is omitted, the R represents RE - the D note in Spanish, Italian, or Turkish - and the S represents the E flat, 'Es' in German), as well as on the remaining six notes of the total chromatic scale (C#, F, F#, Ab, A, B). Both Pitch Class Sets are identical from an intervallic perspective - transposed by a tritone. Such coincidences confirm to me that I am on the right path, at least musically.

The reference to Turkey is not coincidental, as Ursula taught in Istanbul for many years.

The initial texture of the piece - a kind of toccata with many repeated notes - is a purely musical homage to Ursula: she used this texture in some passages of her compositions. Besides that, this piece contains no direct quotation from Ursula's music.

The work "Hommage an Ursula" is based on a series of 12 notes. The original version (Prime) and the inverted version (Inversed) alternate. From these 24 versions of the series, 24 sections result. I add a final section based on the original series ('Das Ende im Anfange'*); thus, there are 25 sections.

To order the 5 motivic elements, I generate a Latin square. The 5 elements do not rotate, but, in each of the 5 main sections, the initial motive is always the same (A), and the order of the other four (BCDE) changes, permutating according to the following Latin square:

A BCDE
A CEBD
A DBEC
A EDCB
A BCDE

This work can then be considered as a derivation of the 'theme and variations' structure, with the peculiarity that there are five sub-themes that are rearranged in each of the variations.

This piece lasts about 11 minutes. The premiere, performed by the composer (that is, by myself), took place on November 26, 2023, at the Konzertsaal of the Hochschule für Künste in Bremen, during the concert 'Gedenkkonzert Ursula Görsch und Harald Kruse', as part of the 73rd Hausmusikwoche, organized by the DTKV (German Association of Sound Artists) in cooperation with the ABK (Circle of Composers in Bremen).

This is not an easy piece to listen to. It is absolutely consistent but perhaps monotonous. During the premiere, the yawns of someone in the audience prompted me to briefly interrupt the performance to inform them that the end was near. After the concert, one of the organizers suggested to me that the piece was too 'anstrengend' (demanding, exhausting). It is up to the gentle pianists to risk experiencing the same as me.

* 'Das Ende im Anfange' reads the legend that can be read in the circle of tonalities reproduced by Johann Friedrich Michael Wiedeburg in his treatise Der sich selbst informirende Clavierspieler (Leipzig and Halle, 1765-1775, Verlag der Buchhandlung des Waisenhauses).

Juan María Solare
Bremen, September & December 2023.