Shostakovich: Symphony 10 / The Big Lightning CD

He was a graduate of Kent School and received both a B.A. and M.A. from Harvard University where he studied composition with Walter Piston. The original manuscripts of Nicholas Van Slyck are in the Hans Moldenhauer 20th Century Music Archives at Houghton Library, Harvard University, Cambridge MA. 02138.

Trudi Van Slyck has premiered more than 30 of her late husband's compositions in both Europe and the United States. These works include solo piano pieces as will as chamber music and concertos. She is a graduate of the Longy School in Cambridge, Massachusetts and a grant recipient for study in Germany. Currently she is a faculty member of the New School of Music in Cambridge and the University of Massachusetts in Boston."Pantomime", Fantasie for pianoforte four hands. Written in 1970, "Pantomime" uses all the resources of the piano which could possibly be called musical. Melodies appear from inside the piano and eerie percussive effects are made by the nails and fingers and sometimes the whole hand on the strings. None of these sounds are made by altering the piano itself (prepared piano). All are done by the lower keyboard player reaching inside the piano. The fourth movement is without special effects. The titles give the gist of the music which straddles the line between contrapuntal composition and "pop" tunes.