The Art of Touching the Keyboard | Judith Weir

Commissioned by William Howard with funds from the Arts Council

Orchestration
pf
Duration10 min

CategorySolo Keyboard(s)

Composer
Judith Weir

Performances
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Programme Note

The title of this music is an over-literal translation of the title of Francois Couperin’s harpsichord tutor of 1716, L’art de toucher le clavecin. It seemed appropriate for a piece which begins with the player pressing single keys tentatively, as if encountering the instrument for the first time, and ends ten minutes later with the same repeated notes marked ‘confident and relaxed’. In the interim, the music, which is in a single continuous movement, demonstrates the many ways in which the piano keys can be touched, from the gentlest of strokes to the most vicious of blows.

The Art of Touching the Keyboard was commissioned by William Howard with funds provided by the Arts Council of Great Britain and was written in 1983.

© Judith Weir