{"id":1014,"date":"2024-02-11T09:32:14","date_gmt":"2024-02-11T15:32:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/piercegradone.com\/?page_id=1014"},"modified":"2024-02-11T14:45:51","modified_gmt":"2024-02-11T20:45:51","slug":"1014-2","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/piercegradone.com\/?page_id=1014","title":{"rendered":"Power Ballade | piano and electronics"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Power Ballade<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">for piano and electronics<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">2020<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>for Marianne Parker \/\/ premiered March, 2021; Chicago, IL<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Duration: 8 minutes<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Instrumentation: piano and electronics<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-audio\"><audio controls src=\"https:\/\/piercegradone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/powerballade.mp3\"><\/audio><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Program Note<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-right\"><em>Power Ballade<\/em> (2020) is a dual homage to Frederic Chopin\u2019s four <em>Ballades<\/em> and a compilation CD released in the mid-90s called \u201cMonster Ballads,\u201d whose infomercial reminded viewers that \u201cevery bad boy has a soft side.\u201d In other words, the piece blends the restrained energy of the power ballad and the dramatic, dance-like character of Chopin\u2019s <em>Ballades<\/em>. With the aid of a pre-recorded electronic cues triggered by the pianist throughout the performance, <em>Power Ballade<\/em> creates a kind of hyper-piano, an impossible physical instrument composed of all manner of prepared and altered pianos, from dampened strings to bizarre physical modelings and tunings. In fact, most of the electronic sounds heard in this piece are derived from an acoustic piano, and if you listen closely, you may even catch the refracted strains of Chopin\u2019s first <em>Ballade <\/em>in G minor. Like those of Chopin, this <em>Ballade <\/em>fluctuates between tempos and moods, all tied together by a propulsive sense of groove. <em>Power Ballade <\/em>was commissioned by Marianne Parker with financial support from the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n<a href=\"https:\/\/piercegradone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Power-Ballade-perusal.pdf\" class=\"pdfemb-viewer\" style=\"\" data-width=\"max\" data-height=\"max\" data-toolbar=\"bottom\" data-toolbar-fixed=\"off\">Power-Ballade-perusal<\/a>\n<p class=\"wp-block-pdfemb-pdf-embedder-viewer\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Power Ballade for piano and electronics 2020 for Marianne Parker \/\/ premiered March, 2021; Chicago, IL Duration: 8 minutes Instrumentation: piano and electronics Program Note Power Ballade (2020) is a dual homage to Frederic Chopin\u2019s four Ballades and a compilation <span class=\"excerpt-dots\">&hellip;<\/span> <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/piercegradone.com\/?page_id=1014\"><span class=\"more-msg\">Continue reading &rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1014","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/piercegradone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1014","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/piercegradone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/piercegradone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/piercegradone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/piercegradone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1014"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/piercegradone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1014\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1042,"href":"https:\/\/piercegradone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1014\/revisions\/1042"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/piercegradone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1014"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}