The seven “intensely pleasant”
Airs & Fantasias for solo piano were written between 1992 and 2007. The airs are essentially melody-dominated, and the fantasias are pieces in free form with a minimalistic use of repeated and rotating patterns. The pieces are intended to be performed individually or in numbered pairs, or as a complete collection. The subtitles are largely programmatic or self-explanatory, other than
Air 3 (On an anagram) which uses a melodic motif based on the letters of a name. This performance of
Fantasia 2 uses optional piano preparations (a small plastic ruler secured loosely in place over middle C to the E above, another ruler wedged between 2 of the 3 F strings, and a bent metal ruler from the next C up over a further octave). A&Fs 6-7 inhabit a different harmonic world to the other pieces, using a collection of chord relationships called “Twisted Harmonies”. A book of the whole collection (grades 6-8) is available to order from www.johnpitts.co.uk.
from notes by 1equalmusic © 2013