Two Pieces in Slow Time (1999)

Two Pieces In Slow Time was written during 1998-1999 during my break from composition. Back in 1983 I had written the first seven of my 10 Studies for Piano and finished the tenth study in 1986. I finished the two remaining pieces in the fall of 1998 and thus I slowly started composing again. During this time I was transcribing, orchestrating and recomposing my own works as well as other composer’s works.

Two of the 10 Studies for Piano, number 1 and number 10, are both very slow in the piano version and I wanted to recompose these movements for brass ensemble and percussion after speaking with Mogens Andresen, professor in Brass at the Royal Danish Academy of Music. So I composed the piece with the Title Two Pieces In Slow Time for the Academy’s brass ensemble DKDM Brass.

I’ve always been preoccupied with time – both the very fast moving time and the very slow time, like in slow motion. In my later work Schnee, I have a movement with the tempo marking “Tai Chi”, which is to be played so slowly that it is on the verge of stopping completely. Where the pulse almost ceases to exist. Similarly, I can find very fast timings in my piano concerto Left, alone.

Both the Two Pieces In Slow Time are related to the piano versions of the respective studies in different ways. In the first piece time moves forwards, and in the second time moves backwards if you compare it to the piano version. In the second piece, the music starts followed by a long pause. The music then starts again and rises triumphantly with the instruction “maestoso alla trombe”- to be played like trumpets. The intention in the piano version was to create an illusion that the notes are held for a long time. With the recomposition for brass ensemble and percussion the “maestoso alla trombe” instruction became a reality. The Two Pieces In Slow Time and the 10 Studies for Piano is thus not only piano technical studies but also studies in composition – how can the same material be changed, used and recomposed in different forms.

Hans Abrahamsen, 2023