Four Apparitions Op.17 (1985) piano solo c. 12'00"

I. Inquieto, teneramente e fragile; un poco delirando
II. Nobile
III. Affretando misterioso
IV. Supplichevole

First performed on October 15th, 1986 at Merkin Concert Hall in New York City by David Korevaar

Dedicated to David Korevaar

ABOUT

The Four Apparitions Op.17 are prefaced by a short Whitman poem - more an epigram - called "Apparitions," from which I borrowed my own title. (There is also a set of wonderfully strange Liszt piano pieces by the same name.) The poem reads as follows:

A vague mist hanging 'round these pages:
(Sometimes how strange and clear to the soul,
That all these solid things are indeed but apparitions, concepts, non-realities.)

Whitman's modest little poem in all its brevity evokes all sorts of questions concerning the relationship between form, matter and idea, and a s such is particularly well-suited as a commentary on abstract music. The Four Apparitions were written for and dedicated to David Korevaar, who gave them their first performance at Merkin Concert Hall, New York City. The four pieces are meant to be performed as a set and contain subtle rhythmic and motivic ideas which link them together.

RECORDINGS

REVIEWS

“The piano works of American Composer Lowell Liebermann (b.1961) are significant and poetic additions to the keyboard repertoire. One of the most successful composers of his generation, Liebermann is also controversial, especially in “progressive” musical circles. His music is mostly tonal, beautiful, and - unforgivable to some critics and academics - popular and accessible…Liebermann is often categorized as a postmodern tonalist or neoromantic, but such pigeonholing can diminish the distinctive qualities and traits of such an individual composer. His works maintain a strong sense of structural and emotional balance and proportion. The ability to write beautiful, soaring, and memorable melodies attests to his great lyric affinity. Throughout his music, Liebermann makes imaginative use of a rich a varied harmonic and textural palette, and he often demands superior technical ability from his performers. Liebermann’s work for piano are written with a masterly command of idiomatic keyboard writing. He is a formidable pianist who understands (and exploits) the coloristic and virtuoso possibilities of the instrument…”
William T. Spiller, Notes

“…four brief, atmospheric character pieces that seamlessly blend tonal and atonal expression.” ——Ken Meltzer, Fanfare