composer
Joey Roukens (b. 1982) is an Amsterdam-based composer of contemporary classical music. He studied classical composition at Codarts University of the Arts and psychology at Leiden University. Since graduating in ...
related works
Zwei Heine Lieder : for alto or mezzo-soprano and piano / Gustav Mahler; realised by Joey Roukens
Genre:
Vocal music
Subgenre:
Voice and piano
Scoring:
zang pf
Caixa de dolços / Candy Box : Version for piano trio / Chiel Meijering
Genre:
Chamber music
Subgenre:
Piano Trio (piano, violin, cello)
Scoring:
vn vc pf
Thema und Variazonen : für Violine, Klavier und Cello / Sem Dresden
Genre:
Chamber music
Subgenre:
Piano Trio (piano, violin, cello)
Scoring:
pf vl vc
Das Verschenkte Weinen (The Gift of Tears) : for piano trio / Marion von Tilzer
Genre:
Chamber music
Subgenre:
Piano Trio (piano, violin, cello)
Scoring:
vn vc pf
composition
Piano trio : 'Shadows and bells' / Joey Roukens, 2009
Description:
Before I started writing this piece, I had acquired a stack of scores of piano trios from the great romantic tradition - Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Brahms, Schumann, etc. Amsterdam, the carillon sounds of the Oude Kerk blew into my room through the open window. In my head these bell sounds then began to mix with the romantic music I was studying and it started to sound alienating, and the piece was born.
The piece therefore often contains bell-like sounds and 'shades' of romanticism. These shadows can be heard as a kind of distorted memories of the past, embedded in an alienating, contemporary context. In doing so, the piece follows an erratic ABABA trajectory - the A sections contain the bell sounds and are slow, carried and very dramatic at the climactic moments; the B sections, on the other hand, are energetic, playful, rhythmic and sometimes even humorous.