Geburstag I, II , III – Bruno Giner

Description

Geburstag I, II, III – Bruno Giner

Three pieces for piano (six hands) – Easy

Score available in hard copy or for download.

Each piece in these collections for six-hand piano corresponds to an anniversary (Geburstag in German). Some of these dates mark public anniversaries, serving as brief tributes to certain composers or artists (Luigi Russolo, John Cage, Erik Satie, Ruzzante). Others commemorate historical events (the proclamation of the Spanish Republic, the ringing of Notre-Dame de Paris’s bells following the November 13 attacks), while still others correspond to private anniversaries.

Geburstag I, II, III

Geburstag I : 30 avril 1885 (Luigi Russolo with accessories) – 1’40”

April 30, 1885, marks the anniversary of Luigi Russolo’s birth. An Italian Futurist, he developed the concept of the art of noise and authored a manifesto of the same name in 1913. The emergence of noise into the musical realm foreshadowed musical worlds inspired by industrial, mechanical, or electrical noises—sounds produced by man-made machines.
This piece incorporates various sounds produced by the piano (muffled tones, percussion on the wood, guiro-like effects on the black keys, glissandi on the strings, etc.). Two items are required: a plastic object to imitate a guiro and a maraca egg. To avoid overloading the score, the instructions corresponding to the written symbols appear only once.

Geburstag II : 5 septembre 1912 (John Cage : prepared piano and two Toys-Piano) – 1’35”

September 5, 1912, marks the anniversary of the birth of John Cage, an American composer, inventor of the prepared piano, and pioneer of toy-piano music.
This piece must be performed with two toy pianos with at least 18 keys (pianists 1 & 2) and a prepared grand piano (pianist 3).
Preparing the Piano 3
Two areas are prepared in advance on the grand piano:
Area 1: Place a piece of eraser between the two lowest A#-B strings in the range (muted sound, behind the dampers)
Area 2: Place one (or two) plastic CD cases behind the dampers, between the middle C and A, to achieve a sound similar to that of a harpsichord.

Geburstag III : 1^er juillet 1925 (Erik Satie) – 3’00”

July 1, 1925, marks the anniversary of Erik Satie’s death. The piece is a “mix” of several distorted quotations from his works: *Piège de Méduse*, *Gymnopédies*, *Gnossiennes*, *Jack in the Box*, *Vexations*, *Sports et divertissements*…

 

Geburstag IV, V, VI , intermediate

• Geburstag IV : 17 mars 1542 (Angelo Beolco alias “Ruzzante” : musical) theatre
• Geburstag V : 14 avril 1931 (Spanish republic)
• Geburstag VI : 28 mai 1966 (private anniversary)

Geburstag VII, VIII, IX, difficult

• Geburstag VII : 15 novembre 2015 (Funeral bell of Notre-Dame)
• Geburstag VIII : 13 juillet 2019 (private anniversary with Toy-Piano)
• Geburstag IX : 20 octobre 2020 (private anniversary)