John Burge

Publisher: Red Leaf Pianoworks/John Burge [Copyright 2013] ISBN: 978-1-927836-002

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Program Note: PARKING AN OCTATONIC TRUCK is a set of ten solo piano pieces that explore a few different approaches to composition and the piano. This volume of pieces is a compilation that was primarily written in 1999 and 2006 with the two additional pieces created in 2013. Dating back to the early 1990’s, I have spent time almost every year adjudicating music festival classes primarily in the area of piano performance. It is not uncommon to be asked to adjudicate sight-reading and quick study classes and in both cases, it is important that the performer be given a piece that is completely unfamiliar. Being a composer, one of the best ways to ensure that the student’s assigned piece for quick study or sight-reading is completely unknown, is to sit down and write a short work at a suitable level of difficulty.

For this collection I have brought together many of the compositions that I have used a number of times under these circumstances in the past. The works are arranged in order of increasing difficulty, covering approximately Grade 1 to Grade 8. That said, I would be the first to admit that assessing an appropriate grade level can be quite challenging as I sometimes misjudge what I think should be easy. I would add though, that three of these pieces have been previously published in the Canadian National Conservatory of Music’s Northern Lights Piano Series as follows: “High Fives” in Volume 2B, “Parking an Octatonic Truck” in Volume 4B and “Dodge Ball” in 5B. I would like to thank Martha Duncan-Hill for her encouragement and advice in bringing out this volume and in getting me to join the Red Leaf Pianoworks collective of Canadian composers. Martha is a fine composer and great inspiration and sometimes one just needs a bit of repeated prodding to take care of the details that often get overlooked. It has also been a true pleasure to work with Susan Griesdale who created the illustrations for this volume. I find it remarkable that such a successful composer also has so much artistic and creative talent with pen and ink drawings.

Contents:

1. A Gentle Waltz [Suggested Grade 1 Level]
2. Playing with Prisms [Suggested Grade 1 Level]
3. High Fives [Suggested Grade 2 Level]
4. Lonely [Suggested Grade 2 Level]
5. Building Blocks [Suggested Grade 3 Level]
6. Johann Phones Dimitri [Suggested Grade 4 Level]
7. Parking an Octatonic Truck [Suggested Grade 4 Level]
8. Dodge Ball [Suggested Grade 5 Level]
9. Dancing Scales [2015 RCM Piano Syllabus: Grace 6 Etude]
10. Cluster Blues [2015 RCM Piano Syllabus: Grace 8 List D]