Piano SKU: ST.Y215
Composed by Morgan Hayes. 6 minutes. Score. Stainer & Bell Ltd. #Y215. Published by Stainer & Bell Ltd. (ST.Y215). ISBN 9790220221309.
1st perf: Sarah Nicolls, The Warehouse, London, 12 December 2003
Lute Stop, inspired by the legendary playing of Glen Gould and Alexis Weissenberg, is the latest bravura solo from Morgan Hayes, an outstanding young British composer of piano music. The interpretative style of these performers, favouring a block-like rather than a nuanced approach to dynamics, is mirrored in the formal aspect of the piece and the extreme dynamic contrasts of its material. Sudden shifts in register, octave doublings and quiet left-hand punctuations also feature prominently in the textures, suggesting changes of registration on a harpsichord - hence the title.
