Arthur Lourié, born Naum Israilevich Luria, changed his first name to Arthur in homage to Arthur Schopenhauer and his middle name to Vincent in admiration of Vincent van Gogh.
Composition History
The final work on this album, 'Dialogue', a free fantasia, was not published during Lourié's lifetime.
Performer Biography
Giorgio Koukl, the pianist on this recording, is considered a leading interpreter of Bohuslav Martinů's piano music, having recorded his complete solo piano works.
Compositional Technique
Lourié's 'Formes en l'air' (1915), dedicated to Pablo Picasso, is unconventionally notated with fragments of staves scattered across the page, superficially prefiguring later composers like Boulez or Stockhausen.
Recording & Production
This album includes world premiere recordings of some of Arthur Lourié's piano works.
Composer Biography
Arthur Lourié nominally converted to Catholicism in 1912 to marry a Polish woman, as mixed marriages were not permitted in Russia at the time, and later genuinely embraced Catholicism.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Lourié's 'Upmann, a smoking sketch' (1917) is an overt celebration of the famous Upmann cigars from Cuba, and the original score is decorated with Cubist-inspired drawings.
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