Nocturne No.2 for piano solo Op.31 (1990) c.7'00"

Commissioned by the Alumni of Young Concert Artists, Inc. 

In memory of Steven De Groote

First performed on March 28th, 1990 at Alice Tully Hall in New York City by Hung-Kuan Chen

RECORDINGS

REVIEWS

“Most surprising of the entire evening was the Nocturne by the rising young American composer Lowell Liebermann that opened the program. It unfolds like a flower, petal by petal, into full-blown complexity and exquisite beauty. Its seven minutes of remarkably affecting music is certain to find its place in other recitals quickly. Most deservedly so, too.”
Musical America

“This stunning new work is in Liebermann’s cantabile style.”
American Music Teacher

“The piano works of American Composer Lowell Liebermann (b.1961) are significant and poetic additions to the keyboard repertoire. One of the most successful composers of his generation, Liebermann is also controversial, especially in “progressive” musical circles. His music is mostly tonal, beautiful, and - unforgivable to some critics and academics - popular and accessible…Liebermann is often categorized as a postmodern tonalist or neoromantic, but such pigeonholing can diminish the distinctive qualities and traits of such an individual composer. His works maintain a strong sense of structural and emotional balance and proportion. The ability to write beautiful, soaring, and memorable melodies attests to his great lyric affinity. Throughout his music, Liebermann makes imaginative use of a rich a varied harmonic and textural palette, and he often demands superior technical ability from his performers. Liebermann’s work for piano are written with a masterly command of idiomatic keyboard writing. He is a formidable pianist who understands (and exploits) the coloristic and virtuoso possibilities of the instrument…THis work is an eloquent and moving commentary on the tragedy of losing a great pianist.”
William T. Spiller, Notes