Browsing: modern classical

There is something quietly elemental at the heart of La Rivière Des Choses, as if it isn’t simply being played so much as allowed to pass through the room for a brief moment before continuing on its way. Raffaele Scoccia has always had a tendency toward introspection in his writing, but here that sense feels even more distilled.

And yet there is a contradiction running through it. For all its inward focus, the piece never feels small. Inspired by ideas of time, memory, and the movement of history, La Rivière Des Choses carries a sense of scale that is almost cinematic in its emotional reach. It’s a meditation, yes, but one that keeps glancing outward, aware that the personal and the universal are never really separate things.

Peter Manning Robinson is a composer and piano innovator who is an Emmy Award–winner and multi–BMI Award winner. His new single "Pure Heartbreak" is his best and most heartfelt music to date.