Premiered on February 27, 2015, by Lois Shapiro, piano, Randall Hodgkinson, piano, and Colin Gee, performance artist, for the concert Mythos/Melos: The Intertwining Threads of Music and Narrative, at Distler Hall, Granoff Music Center, Tufts Univerisity, Medford, Massachusetts.

Watch Kindling with Subsongs from Colin Gee on Vimeo.

Colin Gee

Commissioned for the concert by Lois Shapiro and Randall Hodgkinson, Kindling With Subsongs [Two-Part Prequel To Ignite Would-Be Firebirds], Op. 555 (2014-2015) for two pianos is dedicated to the performers.

PART 1: 1. Kindling I (Maestoso; brioso)—2. Subsong I (Chant-Like and Flitting)—3. Subsong II (Misterioso; Somnambulent)

PART 2: 1.  Kindling II (Crackling/Rumbling)—2. Subsong III (Martellato; Brittle)—3. Subsong IV (Tranquillo misterioso)—4. Subsong V (Incisive; Exactly Together)

Composed as an introduction to Lois Shapiro’s and Randall Hodgkinson’s performance of an arrangement of Igor Stravinsky’s The Firebird Suite, Kindling With Subsongs takes notions and “rehearses snippets” from Stravinsky’s legendary ballet music in an attempt to capture bits of its singular atmosphere, thereby preparing the listener in particular quirky ways for the experience of The Firebird Suite itself. Continue reading →