Leonard Bernstein -- Touches (1981)

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Leonard Bernstein -- Touches (1981) #2760330 08/22/18 03:30 PM
Joined: Aug 2010 Posts: 2,346 T Tim Adrianson OP 2000 Post Club Member
OP Tim Adrianson 2000 Post Club Member T Joined: Aug 2010 Posts: 2,346	Leonard Bernstein -- Touches (1981) For the 1981 Van Cliburn Piano Competition, Cliburn commissioned Leonard Bernstein to provide an extended piano piece which all competitors would be required to perform as part of their program. From its very inception in 1961, Cliburn had established the legacy that an American composer of his choosing would prepare a work written especially for the Competition -- in 1961, it was Lee Hoiby; in 1965, Willard Straight; in 1969, Norman Dello Joio; in 1973, Aaron Copland; in 1977, Samuel Barber; and then in 1981 -- Leonard Bernstein. Bernstein responded by providing a work not informed so much by virtuosic demands as by creativity in coaxing all sorts of different sounds from the keyboard -- briefly put, "the touches". The piece is constructed as a Blues Theme, then 8 Variations, Chorale, and Reprise. IMO, it's just quintessential Bernstein -- and the most successful piece of any written for the event.

Re: Leonard Bernstein -- Touches (1981) Tim Adrianson #2760639 08/24/18 12:30 AM
Joined: May 2005 Posts: 13,956 Phoenix, Arizona Carey Yikes! 10000 Post Club Member
Carey Yikes! 10000 Post Club Member Joined: May 2005 Posts: 13,956 Phoenix, Arizona	Beautiful performance of an amazing work. You held my attention from start to finish. I imagine this piece would've have been challenging for the Cliburn contestants to memorize. Mason and Hamlin BB - 91640 Kawai K-500 Upright Kawai CA-65 Digital Korg SP-100 Stage Piano YouTube channel - http://www.youtube.com/user/pianophilo

Re: Leonard Bernstein -- Touches (1981) Tim Adrianson #2760873 08/25/18 09:17 AM
Joined: Dec 2013 Posts: 456 Switzerland T Tony007 Full Member
Tony007 Full Member T Joined: Dec 2013 Posts: 456 Switzerland	About 40 years later.... Another precious document of Leonard Bernstein's tremendous mastership! This must have been an enormous challenge for the 1981 competitors The "safe haven" of impressing the jury with playing as fast and loud as it gets is far away, there are lots of sense for moods and colors required.... You have plenty of this sense, you know how to keep the tension, congratulations! Best regards again Tony (Felix) Last edited by Tony007; 08/25/18 09:18 AM.