CSM 19: Piano Music of Roy Agnew (1891-1944) by Larry Sitsky
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Item Open Access Roy Agnew: Drifting Mists (1931)(Canberra School of Music, Australian National University, 1931) Composer: Roy Agnew; Sitsky, Larry; Webster, Belinda"Drifting Mistswas published in 1931, and owes something to the late music of Liszt. The title aptly describes the piece." -- Larry SitskyItem Open Access Roy Agnew: Poem No.1 (1922)(Canberra School of Music, Australian National University, 1922) Composer: Roy Agnew; Sitsky, Larry; Webster, Belinda"Poem No. l, of 1922, is a wistful and lyrical little piece, with some unusual canonic and harmonic touches, which bring Agnews music close to European expressionism. The last chord must have startled Sydney audiences of the 1920s." -- Larry SitskyItem Open Access Roy Agnew: Deirdre's Lament (1922)(Canberra School of Music, Australian National University, 1922) Composer: Roy Agnew; Sitsky, Larry; Webster, Belinda"Deirdre's Lament, also from 1922, is unusual in that the left hand never shifts from F. The melody, modulations and chromaticisms all occur over this repeated F in the bass." -- Larry SitskyItem Open Access Roy Agnew: Sonata Legend (1949)(Canberra School of Music, Australian National University, 1949) Composer: Roy Agnew; Sitsky, Larry; Webster, Belinda"If the Sonata Fantasie had four themes, the Sonata Poeme three, and the Sonata Ballade two, then it would be logical to assume that the next work from Agnews pen would be monothematic, and that is indeed the case with the Sonata Legend (Capricornia). This work was not published until 1949, five years after Agnews death, although he certainly performed it a number of times. The subtitle, which suggests that the work has a hidden program based on the Xavier Herbert novel, is not to be taken too literally. Agnew often said that he appended titles after a work was composed; he was in no sense a programmatic composer, although it is probable the violent mood of the Herbert novel gripped his imagination. Ihe Sonata Legend is the most compressed of the series, partly due to the use of just one theme, but also because of the compression process at work in Agnews compositional technique. The sonata is intense, and emotionally draining to perform. It is a kind of antithesis of the Sonata Poeme, being largely chordal in texture, and consisting of varying statements of the one theme. In some ways, this is a very stable sonata tonally, beginning and ending firmly in the key of Eflat minor." -- Larry SitskyItem Open Access Roy Agnew: 'Sonata Symphonique' [unpublished](Canberra School of Music, Australian National University) Composer: Roy Agnew; Sitsky, Larry; Webster, Belinda"The manuscript of the second unpublished work contains a number of attempted titles: Poem Sonata, with Sonata then scribbled out; La Belle Dame Sans MercV and Keats in brackets; Poem Sonata in brackets on another page, with the Keats quotation under it, and finally Symphonic Poem. Poem seemed a necessity to Agnew, one way or the other, and, no doubt, various portions of the work can be related to the Keats poem. In my mind, again for the sake of uniformity, I call the piece Sonata Symphonique: not because it is any bigger than the others in the series, but because it seems to be permeated by a rather delicate orchestral coloration. The model now seems closer to Ravel than to Scriabin, and again, it seems likely that harmonic audacity prevented the work from being published. The main theme of the piece is a succession of descending chromatic ninths; at the beginning of the work these are marked very cold and desolate, which lends a special harmonic feel to the work. There is no date on the manuscript; the work is mentioned in an interview published in 1920, but this evidence is not conclusive, as other works not yet written are mentioned during the same interview." -- Larry SitskyItem Open Access Roy Agnew: Dance Of The Wild Men (1918)(Canberra School of Music, Australian National University, 1921) Composer: Roy Agnew; Sitsky, Larry; Webster, Belinda"Dance of the Wild Men was composed in August, 1919. Like Deirdres Lament, it is dedicated to Benno Moiseiwitsch. Although published in 1921, Agnew later made some changes to the work. These amendments were given to me by Winifred Burston; they are not major changes, and mostly involve dynamics and the odd chromatic alteration. This sort of work is generally played as an encore at the end of a recital, with no holds barred, and without concern for small slips here or there, so that the composers indications such as bang, fierce, with utmost intensity and furiously can be realised and projected." -- Larry Sitsky"Item Open Access Roy Agnew: 'Sonata 1929' [unpublished](Canberra School of Music, Australian National University) Composer: Roy Agnew; Sitsky, Larry; Webster, Belinda"The first of these is simply titled Sonata on the manuscript; lower down the page is written April, 1929. For the sake of uniformity, I suggest calling this work Sonata 1929. It is often the case that a composers unpublished works are inferior, and are forced into the public arena by scholars and performers for reasons more sentimental than musical. Naturally I feared this, but am now quite convinced that the progressive language of the work prevented its publication. Rich in changes of texture and tempo, with a wide sweeping use of the keyboard, it could also be labelled a sonata rondo, because the little five-note theme that is heard at the very beginning of the work is reiterated throughout. Like all the other sonatas, this one is in one movement, with a massively climactic coda just before the quiet ending." -- Larry SitksyItem Open Access Roy Agnew: Poème Tragique (1921)(Canberra School of Music, Australian National University, 1922) Composer: Roy Agnew; Sitsky, Larry; Webster, Belinda"The Poeme Tragique, also published as Toccata Tragica, was completed in May, 1921, and published the following year. It is the largest of Agnews miniatures, and is dedicated to the Australian pianist, Henri Penn. Early performances of the work received a mixed reception, as it was judged by some to be aggressively modern." -- Larry SitskyItem Open Access Roy Agnew: Sonata Poème (1935)(Canberra School of Music, Australian National University, 1936) Composer: Roy Agnew; Sitsky, Larry; Webster, Belinda"The Sonata Poeme was published in 1936. A note at the end of the score proclaims that the work was completed in July, 1935, but we know that Agnew had played it at least six years earlier. Like many composer-pianists, Agnew constantly chipped away at his creations, touching up details, and experimenting with different passage figurations. Some of these variants were preserved in manuscripts, or passed down through an oral tradition. The Sonata Poeme is the most lyric of the sonatas, and concentrates on line rather than chord work for its effect. The thematic material is more economical than in the Sonata Fantasie (according to Burston, Agnew talked about three themes), and the predominant mood is inward and reflective, although Agnew cannot resist at least two impassioned outbursts in the work." -- Larry SitskyItem Open Access Roy Agnew: Sonata Ballade (1938)(Canberra School of Music, Australian National University, 1938) Composer: Roy Agnew; Sitsky, Larry; Webster, Belinda"The Sonata Ballade was written in January 1938, and dedicated to the composer and pianist Frank Hutchens. Agnew finished it in time to enter the Sesqui-centenary Competition run by the NSW Music Association: a competition in which he won two prizes, one for this sonata, and another for his Cradle Song. The prize included publication, and until very recently, one could purchase the score of this sonata through the office of the NSW Music Association. I still treasure such a scorp, moreover one in which some of Agnews alterations and indications were written in by Winifred Burston. Apart from being my favourite, the Sonata Ballade has very pleasant personal memories. I performed it at least twice in the presence of Mrs Agnew, who expressed approval and predicted a brilliant future for me as a musician. I dont know whether the prediction was accurate, but it was nice to hear, nevertheless. I also had the opportunity of speaking with Agnews widow, and a chance to understand something about him as a composer. As for Mrs Agnew approving my interpretation, it is perhaps not surprising: not only did Winifred Burston teach me the piece, having heard Roy play it many times, but I also had, and still have, a copy of the 78rpm recording that Agnew made for Australian Columbia. The freedom and elasticity of his playing were revelatory, though I do remember his racing through some bits to ensure that it fitted on the disc (which allowed not more than four minutes to a side, and the sonata normally lasts a trifle longer than that). The compositional technique is here further refined: we now have two themes, as in a classical sonata, and Agnew constantly develops these two ideas, using interval manipulation in a quite complex manner. The work is intensely dramatic. I recall playing it for Egon Petri, who liked it very much, and said that it sounded like a cross between Scriabin and Ireland, quite an accurate summation of the sound world of the piece." -- Larry SitskyItem Open Access Roy Agnew: Sonata Fantasie (pub 1927)(Canberra School of Music, Australian National University, 1927) Composer: Roy Agnew; Sitsky, Larry; Webster, Belinda"The Sonata Fantasie was published in 1927, and dedicated to the famous pianist, William Murdoch, who played it a number of times at his London concerts. All six of Agnews piano sonatas use the Lisztian one-movement structure, and this one is among the longest of the series. Burston told me that Agnew considered the work to have four distinct subjects; the writing is dense and involved, and constant changes of metre and mood create a tumultuous atmosphere. There is a complete recapitulation: the composer may have felt that repetition was desirable, given the complexity of the work. Despite its Scriabinesque feel, the Sonata Fantasie was well received by the critics on its first performances in London, and certainly represents Agnews entree into the world of international music." -- Larry SitskyItem Open Access Anthology of Austraian Music on Disc: CSM: 19 Piano Music of Roy Agnew (1891-1944) by Larry Sitsky(Canberra School of Music, Australian National University) Crisp, Deborah