Small piano music
suite for piano
originally Opus 7
General
- Legley composed this cycle in the years 1933-1936 (see below for details).
- This youth work originally bore the opus number 7, but was later partly discarded and partly reworked as opus 3.[1][2] The elegiac song was eventually given the opus number 7.
- The piece Spleen was first performed by Jan Decadt on 29 January 1936 in the Ypres City Theatre.[3]
Music
- instrumentation: piano
Parts
- I. Een stukje ter inleiding [A piece as introduction]
- finished on 22 October 1936 in Brussels
- tempo: Moderato - Allegro
- time signature: 3/4 and 4/4
- II. Waltz
- finished on 31 March 1936 in Brussels
- tempo: Allegro vivo
- time signtature: 3/4
- III. Lied[4][5]
- finished on 17 March 1936 in Brussels
- tempo: Traag [Slowly] (adagio)
- time signature: 3/4
- IV. Bagpipe[5]
- finished on 12 April 1936 in Brussels
- tempo: Niet te vlug [Not too fast] (allegretto)
- time signtature: 5/8
- V. Van 't reusje (een oud Iepers liedeken) [About the little giant (an old Ypres song)]
- finished on 30 May 1936 in Brussels
- tempo: Allegretto
- time signature: 6/8
- VI. Eentonigheid [Monotony]
- finished on 10 December 1933 in Ypres
- tempo: Andante (traag [slowly])
- time signature: 5/4
- VII. Burleske [Burlesque][5]
- finished on 19 August 1936 in Brussels
- tempo: Zeer vlug [Very fast] (allegro vivo)
- time signature: 6/8
- VIII. Spleen[5]
- finished on 1 March 1935 in Ypres
- tempo: Habanera-beweging [Habanera movement]
- time signature: 2/4
- IX. Een geestige marsch tot slot [A witty march to conclude]
- finished on 28 June 1936 in Brussels
- tempo: Marschbeweging [March movement] (tempo di marcia)
- time signature: 2/4
Sources
- final autograph: Royal Conservatory of Brussels (B-Bc), shelf number BV-03-3998-onderdeel-1
- first autograph: Royal Conservatory Brussels (B-Bc), shelf number BV-03-3998-onderdeel-2
- autograph 1 of Spleen: Royal Conservatory Antwerp (B-Ac), shelf number: MM-MS-LEGLE-petite-1[6]
- autograph 2 of Spleen: Royal Conservatory Brussels' (B-Bc), shelf number BV-13-2000
Notes
- ↑ On the title page of the final autograph, Legley's son Walter wrote: deze 'kleine pianomuziek' is opus 7, maar ook gedeeltelijk opus 3: ingebonden bij 'jeugdzonden' + 'petite suite voor piano' [this 'little piano music' is opus 7, but also partly opus 3: bound in with 'youthful sins' + 'petite suite for piano']. The bound manuscripts to which Walter Legley refers are currently missing.
- ↑ In the catalogue of authors' society SABAM we also find Petite suite pour piano op.8 - Kinderstukjes, presumably this is the same work as opus 3. Cf. Small suite for piano and Opus 8.
- ↑ This is noted by Legley in his first autograph. See two reviews of the concert where Decadt played Spleen: J.T.: Ieper - Stadsschouwburg in Het Ypersche - La Région d'Ypres of 1 February 1936, p.9; Gaired: Grand concert artistique in Het Ypersche - La Région d'Ypres of 1 February 1936, p.9.
- ↑ On the title page of Lied in the first autograph, one can still read voor bea [for bea] (someone may have erased it, but it remains legible). This undoubtedly refers to Beatrix Souvage, whom Legley married in 1939.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Legley later included this piece in the Small suite for piano.
- ↑ Title page: Petite suite pour piano | Vic. Legley. op.3. | 1) Habanera.
