88 Squared - Commissioning and Recording New Works for 2 Pianos

1. Dr. Jeffrey Savage and Dr. Karen Savage, School of Music, Washington State University Although popular with audiences, the duo piano repertoire is much more limited than those of other chamber ensembles such as string quartets and piano trios. In order to stimulate significant and lasting contributions to the body of music for piano duo, 88 Squared, comprised of faculty members Jeffrey and Karen Savage, commissioned and recorded two-piano works of prominent young composers whose international reputations are flourishing. Heather Schmidt and Daniel Ott have established a record of quality recognized by leading arts organizations and institutions throughout North America, and their works are regularly recorded and performed around the world. Program notes by these composers are included in the recording. 88 Squared was selected in 2008 by Artists International for presentation in Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall. In preparation for the recording project and their New York recital debut, 88 Squared performed a program including both commissions in several venues, including the University of Puget Sound and the Victoria Conservatory of Music (Canada). During its performance trip to New York, the duo worked with both composers on the new works. The process of establishing a performance tradition for a new piece is unique from performing standard repertoire. First, and perhaps most obviously, there are no comparisons to make with other duos’ interpretations of the same work. Similarly, there is often little recorded comparative material by the same composer. The opportunity to work directly with the creator of the work is therefore invaluable in gaining insight into the composer’s musical intentions. 88 Squared - Commissioning and Recording New Works for 2 Pianos The recording process occurred over a span of ten days in June 2009. Using WSU’s cutting edge studio, recording engineer Jeremy Krug recorded 88 Squared’s performances on WSU’s two exceptional Fazioli concert grand pianos in Kimbrough Concert Hall. Each piece was recorded individually and in separate movements, in numerous takes. Piano technician Dave Severance voiced the Fazioli pianos before and during the recording process in order to achieve a warm yet brilliant tone on each instrument. As the recording sessions progressed, the piano duo made initial decisions about the quality of each “take.” The final editing of each track on the CD occurred in Fall 2009. After initially listening to all “takes” of each movement, decisions regarding which portions of each to use took several hours for each track. Once all the editing decisions were made, an additional 3 to 4 hours of editing work was required in WSU’s recording studio for each movement or piece. Design of the CD cover art commenced at the same time, with the principal artistic layout and all the graphic design created and completed by David Hoyt of Red Anvil Design. This compact disc recording, supported by WSU’s New Faculty Seed Grant, also includes other works for two pianos that have not garnered as much attention as they deserve. Sergei Rachmaninov’s Fantasy (Suite No. 1) is greatly overshadowed by the popularity of his second Suite. Similarly, the two-piano version of Frederic Rzewski’s Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues is infrequently played, and almost never recorded, in comparison to the original solo piano version. Musicians and scholars studying or performing duo repertoire now have an important resource in this debut recording by 88 Squared, and those interested in the repertoire of the commissioned composers will have an additional valuable source for study.