''Dichotomie'' is a two-movement composition for solo

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

by the Finnish composer

Esa-Pekka Salonen Esa-Pekka Salonen (; born 30 June 1958) is a Finnish orchestral conductor and composer. He is principal conductor and artistic advisor of the Philharmonia Orchestra in London, conductor laureate of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and music di ...

. The work was completed in October 2000 and was first performed by pianist Gloria Cheng on December 4, 2000 in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

. Salonen, Esa-Pekka (2000)
Dichotomie: Program Note
. Retrieved August 22, 2015.

Composition

Salonen described the background and composition of ''Dichotomie'' in the score program notes, writing: He continued:

Structure

The work has a duration of roughly 18 minutes and is composed in two

movements Movement may refer to: Common uses * Movement (clockwork), the internal mechanism of a timepiece * Motion, commonly referred to as movement Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * "Movement" (short story), a short story by Nancy Fu ...

: #Mécanisme #Organisme

Reception

Daniel Cariaga of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...

'' praised ''Dichotomie'', remarking, "The first ovementis wide-ranging but standoffish, the second many hued and emotionally resonant. Both parts are complex, dense with activity, thick with chordal movement yet unchaotic, very often Lisztian in textures." Reviewing a later recording of the piece,

Anthony Tommasini Anthony Carl Tommasini (born April 14, 1948) is an American music critic and author who specializes in classical music. Described as "a discerning critic, whose taste, knowledge and judgment have made him a must-read", Tommasini was the chief c ...

of ''

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'' similarly noted the "stupefying challenges" of the piano writing.

Arnold Whittall Arnold Whittall (born 1935, Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England) is a British musicologist and writer. He is Professor Emeritus at King's College London. Between 1975 and 1996 he was Professor at King's. Previously he lectured at Cambridge, Nottingha ...

of ''

Gramophone A phonograph, in its later forms also called a gramophone (as a trademark since 1887, as a generic name in the UK since 1910) or since the 1940s called a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogu ...

'' wrote, "''Dichotomie'' (2000) for solo piano provides a useful digest of Salonen’s current compositional preoccupations. Its first movement deploys aggressive but constantly shifting rhythmic mechanisms whose origins lie in

Prokofiev Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev; alternative transliterations of his name include ''Sergey'' or ''Serge'', and ''Prokofief'', ''Prokofieff'', or ''Prokofyev''., group=n (27 April .S. 15 April1891 – 5 March 1953) was a Russian composer, p ...

, while its second seems closer to the flowing spontaneity of the Ligeti Etudes."

References

{{Authority control Compositions by Esa-Pekka Salonen 2000 compositions Compositions for solo piano