ROUTE 33 (2014)

_____________________________________________________

DOWNLOAD PROGRAM NOTES (English)
DOWNLOAD PROGRAM NOTES (German)

(click on images of excerpts to enlarge)

Stream on Spotify
Stream on YouTube

More information about the recording of Route 33  on the album VIENNA AND THE WEST
_____________________________________________________

Purchase the sheet music for Route 33  at:
Theodore Front Musical Literature
sheetmusicplus.com

Note to all owners of the edition of Route 33 which ends with bar 135

In a new, updated version of the piece, the following changes have been made:

– the pickup at the end of bar 67 (on the and of 4) is now on the and of 4 of bar 62
– bars 63-67 are cut

Reviews:

“Route 33″ (great title; and there really is a Route 33) for solo piano is a kind of sectionalized dreamscape taking in paragraphs of calm, angularity, terse cubist eruptions, and a notably sonically splendid storm scene. It highlights Wolfgang’s ear for contrast within the continuum of a structured piece.”

Jonathan Woolf, Musicweb-International

“Though “Route 33″, which was commissioned by pianist Gloria Cheng in 2014 and is performed by her on the release, works six subchapters into its compact, eight-minute frame, it fluidly transitions from one section to the next. Again the Viennese character surfaces, especially when the writing expands beyond traditional territory into realms that seem more free-floating and suspended harmonically.”

Ron Schepper, Textura

“This single-movement work has an episodic feel as well across several distinct sections that have these more interrupting reflective states.  There is an almost pointillistic feel to the way the chords jump about the keyboard in some sections with small motivic ideas appearing and be somewhat deconstructed as the piece unfolds.  Perhaps this is the most “contemporary”-sounding works on the release. The harmonic ideas here really help make the work stand out though. ”

Steven Kennedy, Cinemusical

“Route 33 is a solo piano that is mostly classical in orientation, using atonal chords and numerous pauses, which Wolfgang likens to “an imaginary road trip, interrupted by a series of unrelated dreams.” (Maybe the traveler has also stopped at some of Scott Wollschleger’s psychedelic gas stations in Pennsylvania.) Pianist Gloria Cheng, who commissioned the piece, plays it with a wonderful feeling of whimsy.”

Lynn Rene Bayley, The Art Music Lounge

“Route 33 affords a solo turn to Gloria Cheng, a superb pianist utterly comfortable in the unclassifiable music of Wolfgang.”

Rafael de Acha, Rafael’s Music Notes