crimson

Uraufführung am 25.11.2005 in Luzern: Thomas Larcher (Piano)

crimson /´krImz(e)n/ adj. n. & v. –adj. of a rich deep red inclining to purple. –n. this colour. –v.tr. & intr. make or become crimson. Blood-red. (ME cremesin, crimesin, ult. F. Arab. kirmizi KERMES)

The Concise Oxford Dictionary

"...and O that awful deepdown torrent O and the sea the sea crimson sometimes like fire and the glorious sunsets and… yes…"

Molly Bloom’s closing monologue in James Joyce’s Ulysses

I recently re-wrote and fused together two separate piano soli, written between 2002 and 2004, to bring to an end a time of intense preoccupation with a specific timbral palette of sounds for the piano. The contrasting material of the three movements share a similar 'intention', which I can only more closely define by referring to the colour 'crimson', hence the chosen quotations above.

With thanks to Nic Hodges, Thomas Larcher and Ulrich Löffler.

(Rebecca Saunders)