Pas de deux

The composer Eduard Pütz (1911–2000) from Cologne was influenced by the composition technique of Hindemith and Stravinsky, yet he also admired Messiaen and valued the music of Karlheinz Stockhausen. At the same time, he was fascinated by the means of expression of jazz music, and he looked over and over again for ways of achieving a compositional synthesis of these widely separated worlds of sound. Pas de deux which consists of three parts – Molto allegro, Andante and Tempo I – has been composed in free atonality. Its harmony is characterized by fourth chords, its rhythm remains in traditional metrics, subtly pervaded by jazz-inspired rhythmic and melodic impressions. The dance piece for four hands lives on the impulse of a forward movement which stops in the quiet middle part before the final part, a brilliantly intensified recapitulation, leads to a lively coda. The brilliant fireworks for piano duet is now available for the first time.