Steps piano cycle series (Seabourne)

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Steps (piano cycle series) is a set of large-scale piano works written by British composer Peter Seabourne (b.1960), currently standing at 11 volumes (220 pieces) of approximately 9 hours total duration. Each cycle is based around a theme and comprises a sequence of often poetically entitled movements.

Contents

Title page of Steps Volume 9: Les Fleurs de la Maladie. Painting: Marigolds on a Blue Chair (2018) by Marcelle Seabourne Peter Seabourne Steps Volume 9 - title page.jpg
Title page of Steps Volume 9: Les Fleurs de la Maladie.
Painting: Marigolds on a Blue Chair (2018) by Marcelle Seabourne

The cycles

  • Volume 1: An anthology for piano - a collection of 12 pieces composed between 2001 and 2004 [1]
  • Volume 2: Studies of Invention - 15 movements inspired by the life, work, writings and investigations of Leonardo da Vinci [2]
  • Volume 3: Arabesques - 9 pieces inspired by a visit to The Alhambra, Granada, and a collaboration with the composer's aunt, the painter Ann Seabourne, [3] presented at The Clothworkers Hall, Leeds in June 2014 [4]
  • Volume 4: Libro di Canti Italiano - 19 pieces reflecting aspects of the Italian character, and the musical interests of its dedicatee Giuseppe Modugno [1]
  • Volume 5: Sixteen Scenes before a Crucifixion - an exploration of impending trauma inspired by the Passiontide paintings of Caravaggio
  • Volume 6: Toccatas and Fantasias - 12 pieces written to be played alongside the Toccatas of Johann Sebastian Bach.
  • Volume 7: Dances on the Head of a Pin - 38 dances, each with a sense of restriction or awkwardness
  • Volume 8: My Song in October - 19 pieces with titles from poems about falling leaves - in memory of the composer's wife.
  • Volume 9: Les Fleurs de la Maladie - 18 pieces related to the late flower paintings by Édouard Manet and the composer's wife, Marcelle Seabourne.
  • Volume 10: In a Grain of Sand - 38 pieces inspired by highly magnified grains of beach sand, and two related poems by Romanian poet-pianist Oana Rusu Tomai with whom this project was a collaboration.
  • Volume 11: The Curious Diary of Mr Doyle - 24 pieces inspired by the sketchbook of Charles Altamont Doyle (father of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle) kept whilst at Montrose Royal Lunatic Asylum (later Sunnyside Royal Hospital) in the 1880s. Doyle was a talented illustrator with his diary encompassing cartoons based on witty puns, observed daily scenes, oversized beasts, objects from the natural world, dreams of both foreboding and redemption, Irish nationalism and numerous images of fairies; the whole in drawings and watercolours.

The first volume (2001-4) marked the composer's return to composition after a 12-year silence. [5] Originally simply a series of standalone pieces, it was only subsequently gathered into an anthology. However, from the second volume onwards the works are conceived as integrated single spans in the manner of Janacek's On an Overgrown Path, or Schumann's Carnaval.

The Italian CD label Sheva has recorded volumes 1–5, and vol. 8 with pianists Minjeong Shin, Giovanni Santini, Michael Bell, Fabio Menchetti, and Alessandro Viale. [6] Volume 6 was released in May 2022 by Konstantin Lifschitz on Willowhayne Records.. The CDs have been reviewed in Gramophone, BBC Music Magazine, Musical Opinion, International Piano, Piano News, Hudební rozhledy and many other magazines. Numerous live performances have taken place in Europe, Armenia, The United States of America and Japan, including by Alessandro Viale, Fabio Menchetti, Konstantin Lifschitz, Minjeong Shin, Michael Bell, Bethel Balge, Giuseppe Modugno, Haruko Seki, Chantal Balestri, Simone Rugani, Andrea Emanuele, Ettore Strangio, Giordano De Nisi, Emanuele Stracchi, Paolo Rinaldi, Barbara Panzarella, Giulia Grassi, Francesca Fierro, Isabella Gori, Letitia Amodio, Francesca Lauri, Sarah Vella, Daphne Delicata, Alvaro Siculiana, Julian Chan, Tsovinar Suflyan and Mikhail Shilyaev.

The composer's musical language is loosely tonal but is often stretched to include elements of polytonality, modality and free atonality. In Musical Opinion, Richard Whitehouse wrote of "a demonstrably Romantic rhetoric with an always audible and yet never facile approach to tonality". [7] A striking feature throughout is the use of rhythm, described by one reviewer as "amazingly inventive" [of Volume 2]. [8] This involves a widespread, subtle stretching of both individual beats and metre giving the music a feeling of flux and ongoing rubato.

Complete listing

Volume 1: An anthology for piano (2001-4):

Volume 2: Studies of Invention (2007):

Volume 3: Arabesques (2012):

Volume 4: Libro di Canti Italiano (2011)

Volume 5: Sixteen Scenes Before a Crucifixion (2014)

Volume 6: Toccatas and Fantasias (2017)

Volume 7: Dances on the Head of a Pin (2019)

Volume 8: My Song in October (2021)

Volume 9: Les Fleurs de la Maladie (2021)

Volume 10: In a Grain of Sand (2023)

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Volume 11: The Curious Diary of Mr Doyle (2024)


References

  1. 1 2 "Review". Gramophone.
  2. ↑ "네이버 학술정보". academic.naver.com.
  3. ↑ "SEABOURNE Steps 2 & 3". Gramophone.
  4. ↑ "North Leeds Life Magazine. June 2014 edition. LS6 LS16 LS18 by North Leeds Life - Issuu". issuu.com.
  5. ↑ "The rest is..." Gramophone.
  6. ↑ "Sheva Collection - www.shevacollection.it". www.shevacollection.co.uk.
  7. ↑ Richard Whitehouse. Musical Opinion Quarterly Issue 1508, p16. June 2016
  8. ↑ "REVIEW:SEABOURNE Steps Sheva SH065 [Byz]: Classical Music Reviews - January 2013 MusicWeb-International". www.musicweb-international.com.
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