Michael Kieran Harvey: The War Sonatas
Event description
“War is a dumb idea”, Warren Burt’s 1994 brilliant anti-war almost-unplayable piano diatribe, is sadly more relevant than ever 30 years on. These late sonatas of MKH are similar in spirit in their outrage and horror at the injustices inflicted on the innocent by aggressive maniacs. Written during Russia’s unprovoked attack on Ukraine and the outbreak yet again of war in the Middle East, Sonata #8 is dedicated to anti-war philosopher Peter Singer, #9 to Harvey’s longtime collaborator and Zappaphile poet Dr Arjun von Caemmerer, while #10 is a warning of autonomous AI (aka killer robots), based on Basquiat’s Riding with Death, an interpretation of the famous da Vinci cartoon. A powderkeg piano program of premieres not for the faint hearted.
Program
Piano Sonata #8: “P. Singer” (2023) (War sonata #1)
Piano Sonata #9: “Sonata da Caemmerer” (2023) (War sonata #2)
Piano Sonata #10: “Riding with Death” (2023) (War sonata #3)
Image: Leonardo da Vinci, Public domain