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Work

Michael Daugherty Composer

Le Tombeau de Liberace, for piano and orchestra   

Performances: 1
Tracks: 4
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Musicology:
  • Le Tombeau de Liberace, for piano and orchestra
    Year: 1996
    Genre: Concerto
    Pr. Instrument: Piano
    • 1.Rhinestone Kickstep
    • 2.How Do I Love Thee?
    • 3.Sequin Music
    • 4.Candelabra Rhumba
Le Tombeau De Liberace is a tribute, for solo piano and orchestra, to Wladziu Valentino Liberace, a flamboyant pianist who arranged and performed pieces from the classical, Broadway, and polka repertoires in Las Vegas. Comprising four movements, this work highlights a few of the garish yet attractive characteristics of Liberace's music.

"Rhinestone Kickstep" is a dazzling movement that begins with a chordal melody in the piano, echoed in canon by the xylophone and accompanied by a fast walking bass line, intruding brass stabs, and cymbal splashes. Chromatic rising figures later add an eerie effect to this material, which finally twirls its way back to a new variation of the opening piano figure, this time echoed in canon by the tuba. The movement conveys the feeling of strutting down the glittering streets of Las Vegas. It ends with a massive glissando down the piano keys.

"How Do I Love Thee?" begins with the ominous beat of a soft bass drum, accompanied by chimes. Over the orchestration of string glissandi and muted brass chords, the piano enters in low octaves, performing the main melody of the movement. The next section introduces a second melody, which is more like a chord progression with soaring strings and piano arpeggios. This leads to a downward scale in octaves in the piano, ending in a low chord progression. The remainder of the piece is composed of orchestrated variations of these three sections, each one more elaborate than its precedent.

Based on the same melody as the preceding movement, "Sequin Music" is a cadenza set for solo piano alone. It begins with glitzy and quick arpeggios of jazz-influenced chords in the high piano. In a sentimental vein, this movement is purposefully gaudy; it uses idiomatic and familiar piano gestures that show off the piano's virtuosic qualities.

"Candelabra Rhumba" re-creates the excitement of a Las Vegas show band. The first section is introduced by the main theme in the piano, which is then elaborated in repeated variations. A section based on Spanish-style music interrupts this. Quick repeated notes as a catalyst for an orchestrated crescendo precedes a piano cadenza based on the first melody. An exciting coda/finale influenced by the Spanish section finishes off the piece.

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