New Waltzes for Piano
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A revisitation of the mid-1970s Waltz Project done by Robert Helps and Robert Moran. Eric Moe plays waltzes of our time.

Eric Moe writes: "The waltz traffics in weightlessness. By adding an extra step to the one-two/left-right of pedestrian movement, it forces the waltzer and listener off the ground and into the air (left-right-UP). Some of these waltzes tackle gravity head on (Roger Zahab's Levitation of pianos during a waltz), others are more insinuatingly buoyant, but all share this attribute. These new waltzes are not exclusively American - there are contributions from Poland (Zygmunt Krauze's Music Box Waltz) and Nigeria (Akin Euba's Study in African Jazz 3) - but they are indebted to vernacular American rhythms which add even more bounce. Their distinguished European ancestry is recognizable, but these waltzes are very much of our time - only lighter. I have revisited Robert Helps' and Robert Moran's Waltz Project of the mid-1970s - half of the 22 waltzes on this CD are from the collection published by C.F. Peters. They include works that have become standards of the repertoire, such as Milton Babbitt's Minute Waltz and Philip Glass' Modern Love Waltz, as well as other gems. The remaining 11 waltzes are new, ten composed especially for this recording, with Ricky Ian Gordon's Waltz a happy discovery. The variety is enormous. Some have a direct connection with jazz: Anthony Cornicello's PostModern Waltz deconstructs a famous McCoy Tyner solo; my own Pulaski Skyway Waltz begins with a quotation from Mal Waldron's Firewaltz, Akin Euba's "African Jazz" study draws from the musical wells of Africa and Vienna, while Andrew Imbrie infuses a one-to-the-bar waltz with the headlong energy of bebop. Lee Hyla's One Moe Time has an improvisational feel, eventually cutting loose ecstatically before returning to its senses. Other waltzes comment trenchantly on the genre itself, like Ron Caltabiano's Character Sketch: About a Waltz. Virgil Thomson's birthday card to Mrs. Efram Zimbalist subverts the waltz rhythm with a thumping duple cross-rhythm in the process of quoting "Happy Birthday." Charles Wuorinen's Self-Similar Waltz operates on a deeper level of wit, reflecting its muscular self in myriad ways; the listening experience is like walking through a set of fun-house mirrors."
Contents:
Hayes Biggs, composer
Susan's Waltz
Eric Moe, piano

Wayne Peterson, composer
Valse Subliminale
Eric Moe, piano

Robert Helps, composer
Valse Mirage
Eric Moe, piano

Andrew Imbrie, composer
Waltz
Eric Moe, piano

Eric Moe, composer
Pulaski Skyway Waltz
Eric Moe, piano

Louis Karchin, composer
Ghost Waltz
Eric Moe, piano

Charles Wuorinen, composer
Self-Similar Waltz
Eric Moe, piano

Joan Tower, composer
Red Garnet Waltz
Eric Moe, piano

Akin Euba, composer
Study in African Jazz 3
Eric Moe, piano

Ronald Caltabiano, composer
Character Sketch: About a Waltz
Eric Moe, piano

Roger Sessions, composer
Waltz
Eric Moe, piano

Zygmunt Krauze, composer
Music Box Waltz
Eric Moe, piano

Ricky Ian Gordon, composer
Waltz
Eric Moe, piano

Karl Kohn, composer
Waltz
Eric Moe, piano

Philip Glass, composer
Modern Love Waltz
Eric Moe, piano

Lee Hyla, composer
One More Time
Eric Moe, piano

Milton Babbitt, composer
Minute Waltz
Eric Moe, piano

Roger Zahab, composer
levitation of pianos during a waltz
Eric Moe, piano

Lou Harrison, composer
A Waltz for Evelyn Hinrichsen
Eric Moe, piano

Mathew Rosenblum, composer
Shadow Waltz
Eric Moe, piano

Virgil Thomson, composer
For a Happy Occasion
Eric Moe, piano

Anthony Cornicello, composer
PostModern Waltz
Eric Moe, piano

Review:
"...this disc shows there's still plenty of music to be made in an old form." (Gramophone)

"Eric Moe plays with sensitive musicianship and evident satisfaction in the music..." (American Record Guide)
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