Tombeau

Tombeau – which takes its title from the central elegy of the work – was composed 1966-69. Its form is a series of fairly specific technical studies interspersed with variations. The introduction provides a sort of ‘trailer’, in which each phrase of the theme is punctuated by a brief quote from the ensuing studies (heard in reverse order). This scheme is balanced by that of the finale, which is also punctuated by short ‘flashbacks’. Tombeau was written as a tribute to certain composers for the piano, notably Schumann and Szymanovsky, and to a style of playing that has now become almost ‘historic’. It is also a tribute to our beloved masters, many of them obscure, who made usmusicians. It is therefore, in many senses, a retrospective work, the last of a phase, undertaken just before a fairly drastic re-evaluation of techniques, ideas, and intentions. It is dedicated to Stephen Kovacevich, who commissioned it and gave its first performance on the BBC Third Programme and subsequently at Dartington Hall Summer School.