THE DEVIL'S WORKSHOP...by Brian DuFord 

2010/2011 DRANOFF SEASON

                         

Duo d'Accord will play  Schubert's Variationen on the opera Marie by Ferdinand Herold, his beloved Fantasie F-minor D 940, and Piazzolla's Tangato. Frank Levy's program includes Schubert's Allegretto in C Minor D915, Four Impromptus D 935, and Franz Liszt's Vallee d'Obermann. And, of course, some lovely surprises by all the artists.

THE DEVIL'S WORKSHOP   

by Brian DuFord

This past October I was in Germany attending the European premiere of New York Streetscapes (trio for flute, oboe & piano). Lucia, who is a close friend of the oboist, was at one of the concerts. She greatly enjoyed the trio and asked if I would be interested in writing a piano 6 hands piece for a concert they were doing in Miami. My first thought was - "piano 6 hands? that's a lot of fingers!". She then told me that what they were looking for was an encore piece. My second thought - "no one has ever asked me for that before"! A day or so later I  went to their home in Munich to meet Sebastian. He and I went for a walk at a nearby park and engaged in a very nice conversation - as if we had known each other for years. They then took me out to dinner for some authentic German food. I had a great time that evening and knew that, in Sebastian and Lucia, a true friendship was born. Right from then, I was very eager to work with them.

Upon returning to New York City, I immediately got to work on the music for Duo d'Accord. I sat thinking about the 6 hands piece and knew I had to create a work that would be fun for the musicians and a real crowd pleaser. So, after trying out several ideas on my guitar (I compose from that instrument), I decided to use various elements of popular styles. It's a short virtuosic work, but within it's modest dimensions are the colorings of blues, jazz, Latin, bluegrass and classical.

The title - "The Devil's Workshop" is of a curious origin. At the time, I had just begun reading the Dickens novel "David Copperfield". Within its pages exists two characters, a Mr. and Miss Murdstone, who are are extremely severe and strict with young David. Miss Murdstone is always railing on about children with idle hands. Naturally I had that old saying "idle hands are the devil's workshop" meandering through my mind. As I imagined six hands and thirty fingers dancing about the keys I thought to myself - these six hands are anything but idle! Almost immediately it jumped out - "The Devil's Workshop" would be the most appropriate title. It also has a double meaning in that, fictionally speaking, virtuosi have always 'sold their soul to the devil' in exchange for unearthly talents.