ATLAS

Set in four movements, my first piano concerto is inspired by (and titled after) the monumental, four-volume publication ATLAS, which maps the ideas, processes, and inspirations of the German artist Gerhard Richter. Conceived and closely edited by Richter himself, this comprehensive compendium cuts straight to the heart of the artist’s thinking, collecting more than 5,000 photographs, drawings and sketches that he has compiled or created since the moment of his creative breakthrough in 1962. My music responds to the imagery contained in these four volumes to create a musical montage and a lucid narrative. Examples of the imagery are listed below.

VOLUME I (1962-1974)

Photographic Experiments 1969
Stars 1968
Spheres 1968
Fire 1968
Photographic Details of Colour Samples 1970
Cities (in Sketches of a Room) 1968
Clouds (in Sketches of a Room) 1970

VOLUME II (1966-1988)

Sketches (Constellations) 1967
Sketches (Numbers) 1978
Sketches (Colour Charts) 1966
Colour Fields 1973
Still Lifes (Skull) 1983
Abstract Pictures 1977
Still Lifes (Apples and Bottle) 1984-88

VOLUME III (1978-2006)

Various Motifs 1978/84/88
Cathedral Corner 1984/88
Sketches (Connecting Piece) 1989
Sketches (Frames) 1990
The Black Forest 1991
Railway Embankment 1990-94
Houses in the Snow (Sils-Maria) 2004

VOLUME IV (2002-2013)

Tree Trunks 2002
Beach and Tideland 2002
Sun 2002
Glass Planes 2006
Various Structures and Silicate 2006
Structure “Pearls” 2006
Strip Studies 2010

— Anna Clyne

"A brilliantly coloured musical scrapbook, artfully assembled"
—The Guardian

“Cinematic”
—D Magazine

“Rapturous … a complex yet inviting new work”
“Her voice is wholly original.”
—Wall Street Journal

“busy washes of complex textures suggest Richter’s big canvases of smeared oils”
“the writing for both piano and orchestra balances brilliance and reflection”
—Dallas Morning News

“Cascading piano arpeggios in the first and third movements remind one of Messiaen’s coloristic keyboard writing.”
—Texas Classical Review