Ben Crosland

7for solo piano

London

INDEX

1. The Hourglass

2. Memento

3. Surface Waves

4. The Turn

5. A Departure

6. On the Carousel

7. Severn

3

6

8

10

14

16

22

ISMN 979-0-708147-72-5

© 2020, Editions Musica Ferrum. All rights reserved.

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Ben Crosland

Memento

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7

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Hourglass

A dark, mysterious waltz with an other-worldly vibe. You might like to try this with felted piano. The deep B’s in the second half should be half-pedalled at the key change to allow them to ring underneath.

Memento

Treat each of the phrases in the first theme as though they are memories un-covered in box of old belongings, with a rubato that pushes through the beginning of the phrase and lingers before the new one begins. The second half is one long reminiscence, and perhaps needs less rubato. This piece was written for felted pi-ano, so might want to experiment with this if you have the option.

Surface Waves

A slow, reflective piece that might benefit from a felted piano sound. Allow plenty of room for each phrase to breathe. The indicators for L/R distribution can be ig-nored if you prefer, but they do allow for the LH to sit on the chords as the broken chords gently ripple between the thumbs. Single grace notes should be played on the beat, with the accent given to the grace note and at a somewhat relaxed pace.

The Turn

Take care of the interplay between the hands from which the melody emerges at times. The intro and outro sections should be very reflective, but when the melody adopts the broken octave motif, it becomes much more impassioned and fluent.

A Departure

This should be played with a hymn-like reverence. Keep a very steady pulse, with the expression coming more from dynamics than rubato. Where the LH extends upwards on beat 4, I prefer to take those notes with the RH, but the slow tempo al-lows otherwise should you prefer.

On the Carousel

Two very distinct themes run through this piece - the childlike music box theme from the opening, and the strong chorus-like melody which should be played a lot more boldly. Those with smaller hands might prefer to use the cue-note alternat-ives.

Severn

Named after the river which runs through my hometown of Worcester, this piece uses polycyclic interplay of 7 against 4 to achieve a sense of “cohesive random-ness”, much like the water that follows the path of a riverbed. Take care to look out for changes that occur within the bar, as they are not always easy to spot.

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