London, 2017

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Ballades is a 2017 project consisting of four pieces for piano. Partly written in 2015 and completed in 2017, it has been inspired by the Parisian scenery and atmosphere, and is my attempt at writing music that reflects the feeling of city wanders.

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"Ballade 1" and "Ballade 2" have been written as pieces that complement one another. Constructed almost in the same manner, they are based on variations of musical material over a constant accompaniment, similarly to the way a landscape would pass before the eyes.

Inside those two pieces is "4x3", a piece based on the contrast between numbers - between evenness and oddness - from the use of quartal harmony to the ternary structure, time signature and use of rhythms.

Finally, "Matryoshka-toska", which I consider as the icing on the cake of this project, is a very simple but lyrical, personal piece. Almost written like a stream of consciousness and interior monologue, it is a piece that I wish lasted longer, and at the same time which takes all its beauty from its shortness.

 

Thanks to Marta Cascales Alimbau, Manos Milonakis, Marek Votruba and Muriël Bostdorp for the wonderful performances.

Whilst most of my past projets had been focusing on nocturnal music, Ballades is a project that brings light and motion and could similarly be characterised as diurnal music.

 

The wonderful artwork is based on a collage by the artist Jolien van der Beek.