Two Pianos

Two Pianos was written for the Grima-Gialanze Duo and was premiered in December 2016 at Teatru Manoel.  The piece, which was commissioned by Malta’s national theatre, was in effect originally written for two pianos. The four-hand version was performed at the Malta International Arts Festival 2019 whilst the version for solo piano was arranged in 2020 for pianist, Gabi Sultana. The work is in three movements, opening with an ‘Energetic’ and ‘Percussive’ first movement characterised by osinati and a relentless rhythmic drive that gives way to a dreamier final section where close harmonies and cross-rhythms abound. The energy in the second movement begins with the similar impetus to the opening movement. 

However, we are now presented with sporadic rhapsodic instances and large washes of sound. A calmer, hypnotic middle section leads to a sudden swell in dynamic, only to revert back to the original idea heard at the beginning of the movement. The third movement is essentially an extended coda bringing the work to a lively and exuberant close.