The Parable of the Parabola
Larry Bell, pianist, November 10, 1988, The Boston Conservatory
Michael Lewin, pianist, Boston Conservatory, September 14, 1990;Larry Bell, pianist, Boston Conservatory, April 13, 1989, April 10, 1998, Boston Conservatory
“The Parable of the Parabola” was written in 1988 at the American Academy in Rome. It is a short, one-movement piece dedicated to the memory of my teacher, Vincent Persichetti. The title, an homage to the Persichetti Parables, is also a double entendre: “parabola” is Italian for “parable.” The form of the music also suggests the basic shape of a parabola, an arch that begins as a jazzy scherzo, becomes a song without words, and concludes, palindromic-fashion, with a retrograde return of the jazzy section.
The work was premiered by Larry Bell at a joint faculty concert (with Mary Saunders, soprano) in memory ofVincent Persichetti. The concert included Persichetti’s Parable for Piano, op. 34, Twelfth Piano Sonata (Mirror Sonata), op. 145, ten songs from Harmonium, and Bell’s Four Sacred Songs.
More Piano Works
A Brief History of Brooklyn and The Screening Room, Opus 192 1
Postcard from Ukraine for piano solo, Opus 189 2
Third Elegy, In Memory of KEO, Opus 179 3
Piano Sonata no. 7 Southern Meditations, Opus 174 4
Piano Sonata No. 6, Opus 171 5
Piano Sonata No. 5, A landscape of Small Ruins, Opus 166 6
Piano Sonata no. 4 in two movements, Opus 165 7
24 Preludes and Fugues, Opus 156 9
Piano Etudes (Book 2), Opus 146 11
Canons for the Young, Opus 145 12
9 Variations on "We Shall Overcome", Opus 132 14
Fifteen Three-Part Sinfonias, Opus 127 15
First Piano Sonatina, Opus 123 16
Twelve Lyric Preludes, Opus 116 17
INGS, Ten bagatelles for piano, Opus 115 18
Remembering Al: Idumea Variations, Opus 91 22
Piano Sonata No. 3, Sonata Macabre, Opus 83 23
Harmony of the Spheres, Opus 82 24
Four Chorale Preludes, Opus 67 26
Suite from Hansel and Gretel, Opus 65 27
Piano Sonata No. 2 "TÂLA", Opus 61 28
Reminiscences and Reflections; Twelve Preludes and Fugues, Opus 46 29
Blues Theme with Variations, Opus 37 30
First Tango in London, Opus 22 33
Miniature Diversions, Opus 15 35