This piece is one of a completed series of six piano pieces bearing the title Nocturnal. Basically contemplative in character, they belong to the now rich tradition (or genre) of "night music."
The Toccata and Thirteen Interludes (first and second movements of Nocturnal No. 4) were written in 1971, the Caccia remaining a sketch of 13 measures. After the opening movement was withdrawn, the middle movement remained by itself as a nocturnal. The Caccia was completed in 1987, and the opening Toccata, slightly revised was reintroduced. The pianist to whom it is dedicated, Juliana Osinchuk, at Alice Tully Hall in New York premiered the work in 1987.
Nocturnal No. 4 is a work in three parts, delineating the following plan: from cluster to monody to polyphony. The model, to a certain extent, is the Baroque multi-leveled toccata. There also was a desire to rescue the toccata from the one-dimensional virtuosic profile that has haunted it since Schumann composed his famous opus.
The first section, Toccata, is a rhythmic incantation by the piano as a digital instrument, full of sound and fury, but of utilizing a variety of pianistic devices in attempt to capture its radical mood swings.
The second section is entitled 13 Interludes and is an instrumental realization of the famous Wallace Stevens' poem, "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird". This middle section (the longest of the three) is a dramatization of a single monodic line by means of 13 haiku-like phrases. The single line unfolds through 13 different sections, each with its own climax and repose, each an attempt to find the correct inward sensibility -- and each followed by its own resonance into silence. Progression from one section to another depends on some form of pitch-play (and pun): the idea expressed in the first section has to be commented on or developed in some way in the next, or a later, section. Each section is linked in some way (pitch, register, dynamics, rhythm, mood, etc.) to all sections; but certain kinds of links between various sections give the work an overall rondo-like form; for example, sections V, VII and XII are linked not only by the interval of a third, but by a very distinct mood.
But enough of that! The performer and listener may at this point become impatient and say: ''So why the subtitle 13 Interludes'? Why not 13 Haikus, or - heaven forbid -13 Zones"
Imagine being in the middle of some huge and acoustically rich cathedral. It is, of course, night and the shadowy silence is awesome. Suddenly the music begins - each tone lingers on - the peculiarity of vibrations produces subtle and unexpected resonances - the mind's ear embellishes each with countless associations. Imagine the haiku - but, then, play the association, the link, the interlude; thus the subtitle "Thirteen Interludes": parenthetical sound images of the ear "in the eye of the blackbird."
While the work was being composed the author was rediscovering Wallace Stevens' "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird", and certain phrases of the poem assumed musical connotation; the phrases appear at the beginning of each interlude:
I. "...the eye of the blackbird" (tenuto; repentimente!) II. "...a fear pierced him" (staccatissimo) III. "...cry out sharply...(an indecipherable cause)" (lugubre) IV. "I was of three minds/ Like a tree" (cantabile) V. "It was evening all afternoon" (come di lontananza) VI. "...the edge/ Of one of many circles" (ironicamente) VII. "The blackbird whirled in the autumn wind" (leggiero e virtuoso; fantasioso) IX. "A man and a woman are one" (con calore) X. "...the blackbird whistling" (strepitoso; tutta la forza) XI. "Why do you imagine golden birds?" (dolce; con alcuna licenza) XII. "I know noble accents/ And lucid, inescapable rhythms" (tempo rubato e malinconico) XIII. "Icicles filled the long window/ With barbaric glass" (quasi campanelle)The piece ends with a short Caccia, a chase. This caccia is built on three lines, related, like siblings, but separate, which follow each other to the end of the piece.
GENERAL REMARKS
Nocturnal No. 4 makes use of a number of notational devices: traditional, proportional, mobile and hybrid. The section EXPLANATION OF SYMBOLS adequately describes their use. Additional instructions specific to each section are given in the music or in a footnote.
A few remarks on the manner of performance of "Thirteen Interludes" seem appropriate. This section is first and above all imagist. It is important that the performer assume an appropriate mental attitude and then find an equally appropriate theatrical stance: "the beauty of inflections...the beauty of innuendoes."
Now for some specifics regarding "Thirteen Interludes":
1. Physical gestures that express the idea and mood of each interlude should found. For instance: in Interlude X the single notes must be played with sudden, sharp gestures, like an amplified shrieking bird perched on your shoulder; the notes marked tenuto should be physically held down and released with a slackening of tension by the diminuendo; the performers gesture of diminuendo should be welded to the actual acoustical diminuendo; then suddenly, the shrieks resume... and then again...
2. Pedaling must be carefully observed; the idea of full, half and one-quarter pedal change is relative to the piano, register, etc. Sometimes the performer may need to hold certain notes longer with one hand than the other to achieve evenness (Interlude III). Remember, Interlude XIII must be played with no change of pedal; the final 13 second morendo must be as long as the sound vibrates for the audience; use the morendo and the lunga pause as one diminuendo from extremes of tension to total relaxation';
3. The silences are important; during each silence the performer moves from one emotional center to the next; the morendo into silence, its duration depends on many factors: the content of the particular interlude, the acoustical properties of the performance space, the mood the performer wishes to project, etc. But at no time should concentration relax; at no time should the listener be left with a feeling of incompleteness; and at no time should the physical stance of the performer exhibit any lack of - or break in - continuity between the interludes. Thus the exact length of the various morendos, although sometimes notated, are left to the conviction of the performer.