LIZ PEARSE, VOICE
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Self-accompanying

What is this?
Sparked by a lifetime of playing piano for myself in at home and in practice, and occasionally accompanying others, I have begun a long-term project of performing and commissioning works for voice/piano - one performer. As part of this project, I conducted my doctoral research on one of the most substantial contemporary works for the medium - Roger Reynolds' Sketchbook for the Unbearable Lightness of Being. 

How does this differ from works for Vocalizing Pianist? 
In some regards, works for self-accompanying singer and vocalizing pianist are the same thing. Though all music-making requires multitasking, playing piano and vocalizing simultaneously place significant cognitive and physical demands on the performer. Where I make a distinction is in the level of technical skill required to perform the pianistic and the vocal tasks. Works in the vocalizing pianist realm generally assume a high technical proficiency at the keyboard, and require no notably special demands on the voice-line (other than perhaps rhythmic precision). Works for self-accompanying singer, in contrast, require all the skills of a learned vocalist - pitch precision, timbre control, sound projection (possibly), and breath control, while employing a slightly-less-virtuosic demand on the performer's keyboard skills. 

Aren't there a lot of people who do that?
Yes! There have always been performers who sing and play piano for themselves. It remains a commonly accepted form of music making in many musical playing-fields. Nina Simone, Diamanda Galas, Tom Waits, Alicia Keys, Tori Amos, Billy Joel - the list of such performers is endless. At one time, it was also common for "classical" singers to do this, too. Performer/scholar Robin Bier's dissertation on the history of virtuosic self-accompanying is an unbelievably thorough document - if you're interested, check it out here: The Ideal Orpheus.

How can I participate?
Do you play piano and sing for yourself? I'd love to know what you're performing, and if you've commissioned new works and don't mind having them listed here, PLEASE send me a message with title/composer/details as desired - epearse at gmail : ) 

Have you written pieces for self-accompanying, or that you think might work for this type of performance? Send me details at the above email address! 

Are you interested in writing a self-accompanied work? Let me know!

Recordings

I have grouped most of my self-accompanied recordings onto "Liz's Salon", linked above. During the Great Quarantine of 2020, I had a lot of free time at home, so some recordings with my home digital piano also appear there!

 
Contemporary repertoire  (*denotes personal commission)

DeBoer Bartlett, A.
The Beautiful Question*

Belcher, J.
Eckart Cycle*
Unit of Measure*

Bornfield, J.
Yes

Burns, C.
Number opera*

Donofrio, A.
Canto III*
And so the penguin...*


Gifford, F.
The pros and cons of live food*
​

Jolas, B.
Mon ami

Mashak, J.
Death of a Wombat

Nass, D.
Ode to a Wombat

Pukinskis, K.
The Sea Cow*

Reinkemeyer, A.
The Diver*

Reynolds, R.
Sketchbook for the Unbearable Lightness of Being (dissertation topic)

Soper, K.
Voices from the Killing Jar - VI. Asta Sollilja

Sullivan, E.J.
The Wombat

White, LJ.
Labor Day
Space


Older songs


Britten
​"Nocturne" from On this Island

Eisler
An den kleinen Radioapparat

King, B.
Theology 

Poulenc
Le bestiaire

Price 
Night

Rachmaninov
The Lilacs

Schubert
Seligkeit
Lachen und Weinen
Der Doppelgänger 
St​ändchen

Schumann
Mondnacht
Die Lotosblume
Du bist wie eine Blume

Smyth
After Sunset

Still
Breath of a Rose

Strauss, R.
Die Nacht

Weill
Youkali
Complainte de la Seine
Nanna's Lied
Je ne t'aime pas

Wolf
Verschwiegene Liebe
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  • News
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