LATTICED WINDOW - étude d'un prélude VIII
2009
for piano solo
dedicated to Olivier Senn
duration: 1'51"
The twelve works in the Études d'un prélude series are all based on micromeasurements of timing and volume of Martha Argerich's recording of Chopin’s Prelude op. 28/4 in E minor, recorded in Munich on 22-25 October 1975 and released by Deutsche Grammophon as DG 2530 731, reissued as DG 415 836-2. The duration of Argerich’s original recording is 1'51".
Latticed Window — Étude d’un prélude VII is the only work in the series to maintain the same duration as its source. The work is named after William Henry Fox Talbot’s Latticed Window (with the Camera Obscura), August 1835 — the oldest photographic negative in existence. A detailed description of the genesis and content of this work can be found in Andrew Kania and Richard Beaudoin's article: A Musical Photograph? [Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, Vol. 70/1: 115-127, 2012].