Bobby Ge - Hymns After Laurie Spiegel, for solo piano [Score Follow Video]

Premiered by Maxwell Hinton, November 14, 2023 in Taplin Auditorium at Princeton University
Commissioned by Stephen Ai
Supported by Harvard University’s Harry and Marjorie Ann Slim Memorial Fund
Dedicated to Stephen, Annie, and Timo, with love
Movement I - Expanse 0:00
Movement II - Patchwork Eventide 4:43
Movement III - Pentachrome Hymnal 11:01
When I first encountered the sprawling and obsessive beauty of Laurie Spiegel’s music, I was amazed by its experimentation, technical craft, and deeply realized spirituality. Most moving to me was how intensely alive it all felt despite being entirely electronic. Contemplative at turns and pulsatingly rhythmic at others, her work was suffused with an organic sense of discovery: listening to her music, I felt as though I was hearing a master improviser discover a new set.
I myself frequently improvise at the keyboard as I compose. After playing for long enough, though, my jam sessions almost invariably return to the transparent harmonies and voicings of the church hymns I grew up accompanying. Despite their ascetic nature, these songs, too, felt alive to me. Their ritualistic manner, instead of alienating me, often invited me into a place of meditation.
Hymns After Laurie Spiegel was written during a very emotionally tumultuous time. To ground myself during the composition process, I considered two hymns that have been especially meaningful to me - Abide With Me and Nearer, My God, to Thee - and sought to place them within the spacious grandeur of Spiegel’s cosmic soundscapes. This piece is dedicated with much gratitude to pianist and commissioner Stephen Ai, as well as my dear friends Annie Hart and Timo Andres who introduced me to Spiegel’s music in the first place. I have much love and admiration for all of them.
For more music and information, visit www.bobbygemusic.com.

[@jackhoo_kang]

Very GOOOOD!!!!

[@machida5114]

sodelicious...........

[@markbrooks7157]

Has Laurie commented?

[@bobbycge]

she hasn't alas! i'm going to see a show of hers this weekend... will report back

[@markbrooks7157]

@@bobbycge please do. I knew her many decades ago. Glad to see she’s still around.