I've already had the chance to work with Philippe Manoury several times as a performer, first by premiering his Echo-Daimonon Piano Concerto (in 2012, with the Orchestre de Paris) and then by playing, and premiering for one of them, some of his piano studies.
Philippe's relationship with the piano is very strong, as he obviously continues the tradition of the composer-pianist, even if he doesn't perform in concert. I was able to appreciate, in particular, his interpretation from memory of a Haydn Sonata in G minor!
The Étude en octaves we'll be discussing today prompts us to reflect on the use of the octave in the language of atonal music. Long avoided because of its historical connotations, the octave is the only interval used in this Étude. However, while the interval used is simple, many of the parameters used in the writing of this piece are complex: canons in augmentations and diminutions, spatialization of the piano's registers, rhythmic games... Historical references are assumed, those to Brahms's 2nd Piano Concerto on a motif on which the Étude is based, and at the end an "accelerated" quotation from the end of Prokovief's 7th Sonata, an admiring nod to the great Russian pianist Sviatoslav Richter.
Jean-Frédéric Neuburger
