Schürmer—Concertino for theremin in B-flat [Score Video]

@Grégoire Blanc, theremin & Aleks Schürmer, pianos primo and secondo « ★★★★½ ... as fun musically as it is harrowing thematically » —La Scena Musicale «...nothing short of extraordinary...a truly unique auditory experience...highly recommended as a premier example of the remarkable, innovative artists in the world today» —The Wholenote STREAMING on all platforms BUY a physical album— aleksschurmer.com/asesdernierspas WATCH the live performance video— https://youtu.be/aN_XCKuJZO4 « The Concertino began its life some twenty years ago. I intended to write a sonata for bassoon and piano for an upcoming album of Nadina Mackie-Jackson, which was already scheduled to include a number of my pieces. I recorded myself improvising the three movements at the piano andquickly set out to make sense of what I had just done. Pressed for time, I only managed to complete the final movement, which appears on Nadina’s 2004 album “Notes from Abroad” as the standalone work “Berçeuse-Muzette”. I promptly forgot about the rest. I was studying 18th century performance practice, and my focus at that time was decidedly more ancient. It wasn’t until 2015 while working primarily with electronic production and new media, that I discovered the recordings on a hard drive. Using Melodyne, a polyphonic pitch correction software, I was able to convert the audio into MIDI data— garbled as it may have been. The software was being used beyond its intended purpose, but its interpretive glitches brought unexpected ideas to the surface— the result being a sort of collaborative effort between myself, my former self, and an algorithm. The work is scored for solo theremin, scordatura strings (two violas and cello with low B-flat strings) and piano and was premiered in Montreal in 2019. But due to logistical complications which arose during the COVID-19 pandemic, it is presented here in a new-new-new version for theremin and two pianos. Loosely programmatic, the Concertino recounts the story of two people meeting via a dating app. Once most of the intense and sometimes irrational emotions of new love have subsided, the pair head to an after-hours club where they hear about a secret after-after-hours party at Mount Parnassus. Pupils dilated, they search all night without success but find themselves enjoying the quiet calm of a sunrise on a grassy hill. Ready to head home, they finally stumble across the mythical party, even complaining to Apollo that the door-girl was rude to them. The room fills with cigarette smoke and when their eyes open next, the lovers find themselves back on the grassy hill. It’s a new day and people are out walking their dogs or heading to work. It must have all been a hallucination, they think, until one of their cell phones vibrates: it’s a text message from Orpheus ! » —Aleks Schürmer This project was funded in part by The Foundation Assisting Canadian Talent On Recordings (FACTOR), the Government of Canada and Canada’s private radio broadcasters.