Douze Études transcendentales

Unlike the highly virtuoso Études d’exécution transcendante by Franz Liszt, these études by Wilhelm Killmayer are written ‘in a deliberately anti-virtuoso manner, without chroma, i.e. with seven tones and largely in two parts’. (Wilhelm Killmayer) Each of the twelve pieces focusses on a single compositional or technical aspect. Diatonic scales, parallel thirds and major chords are combined with some technically very tricky passages. Killmayer makes great demands on the pianist’s concentration, subtly coloured performance and differentiated articulation. The seventh étude is given the title ‘Im Schumann-Ton’ – unforced heartfelt music, always somehow “absent” and unpredictable in its modulations.