Category Archives: Piano

Piano Sonata no. 6 (op. 171)

Piano Sonata no. 6 op. 171 based on an original hymn titled Blest Are the Sons of Peace on a text by Issac Watts

genre: solo piano sonata

date: Fall 2020

dedication: To Maja Tremiszewska

Program notes: Larry Bell Piano Sonata no. 5, A Landscape of Small Ruins, Op. 166
Piano Sonatas nos. 4, 5, and 6 were written in 2020 specifically for three pianists: Carmen Rodríguez-Peralta, Jennifer Elowsky-Fox, and Maja Tremiszewska. These three sonatas are based on original hymn tunes included in Bell’s A Hymnbook for Congregational Singing, op. 169. Sonatas 4 and 5 are based on two versions of the same hymn tune text, “Thou God of Love” by Isaac Watts (1674–1748). In Sonata No. 4 the version uses a sixteen-note series harmonically and two verses of the text are included at the end of the second and final movement with an optional vocal part.

The second version of “Thou God of Love, Thou Ever Blessed,” the basis for Sonata No. 5, is more diatonic and tonally centered in D minor. The one-movement Sonata No. 5 alternates between slow, meditative music and faster, more animated music. Fragments of the hymn tune are suggested from the beginning, but not until the end does one hear a complete statement of the melody.
The subtitle of Piano Sonata No. 5, A Landscape of Small Ruins, is taken from V.S. Naipaul’s book A Turn in the South. Although Naipaul was from Trinidad, his book begins with a prologue entitled “Down Home: A Landscape of Small Ruins.” Here he beautifully describes the county in North Carolina where Bell was reared. The “Small Ruins” are discarded farm equipment and rusted tobacco barns, part of the cultural landscape of the past.

Sonata no. 6 centers around the original hymn tune, Blest Are the Sons of Peace with a text by Issac Watts. The work is in three movements which move from slow, to faster, to fastest.

Piano Sonata No. 6 is dedicated to Maja Tremiszewska in gratitude for her premiere performance of six of Bell’s Twenty-four Preludes and Fugues, Op. 156, on March 8, 2020, in Boston.

Piano Sonata no. 5 (op. 166)

Piano Sonata no. 5 A landscape of Small Ruins op. 166

instrumentation: solo piano

duration: in one movement, ca. 10 minutes

Date: 2020

dedication: Jennifer Elowsky-Fox-Fox

program notes: Larry Bell Piano Sonata no. 5, A Landscape of Small Ruins, Op. 166
Piano Sonatas nos. 4, 5, and 6 were written in 2020 specifically for three pianists: Carmen Rodríguez-Peralta, Jennifer Elowsky-Fox, and Maja Tremiszewska. These three sonatas are based on original hymn tunes included in Bell’s A Hymnbook for Congregational Singing, op. 169. Sonatas 4 and 5 are based on two versions of the same hymn tune text, “Thou God of Love” by Isaac Watts (1674–1748). In Sonata No. 4 the version uses a sixteen-note series harmonically and two verses of the text are included at the end of the second and final movement with an optional vocal part.
The second version of “Thou God of Love, Thou Ever Blessed,” the basis for Sonata No. 5, is more diatonic and tonally centered in D minor. The one-movement Sonata No. 5 alternates between slow, meditative music and faster, more animated music. Fragments of the hymn tune are suggested from the beginning, but not until the end does one hear a complete statement of the melody.
The subtitle of Piano Sonata No. 5, A Landscape of Small Ruins, is taken from V.S. Naipaul’s book A Turn in the South. Although Naipaul was from Trinidad, his book begins with a prologue entitled “Down Home: A Landscape of Small Ruins.” Here he beautifully describes the county in North Carolina where Bell was reared. The “Small Ruins” are discarded farm equipment and rusted tobacco barns, part of the cultural landscape of the past.
Piano Sonata No. 5 is dedicated to Jennifer Elowsky-Fox in gratitude for her premiere performance of six of Bell’s Twenty-four Preludes and Fugues, Op. 156, on March 8, 2020, in Boston.

Piano Sonata no. 4, op. 165

Piano Sonata no. 4: in two movements

second movement: 6 Variations on Thou God of Love an original hymn based on a text of Isaac Watts

Instrumentation: solo piano (optional soprano solo)

composition: 2020

dedication: to Carmen Rodriguez-Peralta

performance time: ca. 16 minutes

progam notes: Larry Bell Piano Sonata no. 5, A Landscape of Small Ruins, Op. 166

Piano Sonatas nos. 4, 5, and 6 were written in 2020 specifically for three pianists: Carmen Rodríguez-Peralta, Jennifer Elowsky-Fox, and Maja Tremiszewska. These three sonatas are based on original hymn tunes included in Bell’s A Hymnbook for Congregational Singing, op. 169. Sonatas 4 and 5 are based on two versions of the same hymn tune text, “Thou God of Love” by Isaac Watts (1674–1748). In Sonata No. 4 the version uses a sixteen-note series harmonically and two verses of the text are included at the end of the second and final movement with an optional vocal part.
The second version of “Thou God of Love, Thou Ever Blessed,” the basis for Sonata No. 5, is more diatonic and tonally centered in D minor. The one-movement Sonata No. 5 alternates between slow, meditative music and faster, more animated music. Fragments of the hymn tune are suggested from the beginning, but not until the end does one hear a complete statement of the melody.
The subtitle of Piano Sonata No. 5, A Landscape of Small Ruins, is taken from V.S. Naipaul’s book A Turn in the South. Although Naipaul was from Trinidad, his book begins with a prologue entitled “Down Home: A Landscape of Small Ruins.” Here he beautifully describes the county in North Carolina where Bell was reared. The “Small Ruins” are discarded farm equipment and rusted tobacco barns, part of the cultural landscape of the past.

Piano Sonata No. 4 is dedicated to Carmen Rodgiguez-Peralta in gratitude for her premiere performance of six of Bell’s Twenty-four Preludes and Fugues, Op. 156, on March 8, 2020, in Boston.

24 Preludes and Fugues (2018-2019) op. 156

Title: 24 Preludes and Fugues op. 156

Date of composition: Prelude and Fugue in f minor (2018) Prelude and Fugue in F major (2018)
All others written in January 2019 at the Virgina Center for the Creative Arts

First performers: Carmen Rodriquez-Peralta nos. 1-6; Maja Tremiszweska nos. 7-12; Jennifer Elowsky-Fox nos. 13-18; John Macdonald nos. 19-24

Performance time: ca. 135 minutes

Canons for the Young (2017) Op. 145

Polyphonic teaching pieces for the young.
Dedication: Angel Ramon Rivera
Instrumentation: solo piano
Duration: ca. 15′

1. Canon in C (at the 8ve)
2. Canon in D (at the 4th)
3. Canon in Eb (at the 6th)
4. Canon in E (at the 9th)
5. Canon in F (at the 5th)
6. Canon in G (at the 2nd)
7. Canon in A (at the 3rd)
8 Canon in Bb (at the 7th)
9. Canon in b (little fugue)

(Each canon may be performed separately.)

Prayers (2015) op. 135

Title: Prayers Book One.

Instrumentation: solo piano in twelve movements

Dedication:

First Performance: January 25, 2016 David Friend Recital Hall, Berklee College of Music, Boston, composer-pianist

Duration: 18 minutes

titles:

for Trayon Martin
for Michael Brown
for Tamir Rice
for Keith Harrison McLeod
for Corey Jones
for Diana Showman
for Laquan McDonald
for Christian Taylor
for Zachary Hammond
for Cameron Tillman
for Samuel DuBose
for Eric Garner