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Paramell VI (1981) |
solo piano and flute, clarinet, cello (optional perc) - 7' 30"
Paramell V was commissioned by the Swedish two piano team, Mats Persson & Kristine Scholz and written while I was in residence at The MacDowell Artists' Colony, Peterborough, New Hampshire in the winter of 1981. Paramell Va is a solo version I arranged for a concert Philip Mead was giving in Cambridge (England) later that season. I also arranged the work for solo piano with three instruments "colouring" the solo line. I decided not to call that version "Paramell Vb" so instead called it "Paramell VI". Each version is virtuoso toccata "moto perpetuo" reflecting my early interest in the so-called 'minimalist' American composers and the idea of gradually increasing the density and intensity of the keyboard fury until it reaches full throttle at the climax of the work. These three "paramells" radically depart from the minimalist canon by their clear sense of growth, climax and dénouement, something not usually found in minimalist pieces at the time."Paramell" is an invented word combining the words "parallel" and "melody". There are a total of seven "paramells" the last of which is Paramell VI.
© Stephen Montague