Paul Novak - "Dialogues in Black and White"

 Paul Novak - Dialogues in Black and White

Winner of the 2022 NACUSA  (National Association of Composers/USA) Composition Competition, Paul Novak's Dialogues in Black and White for solo piano, originally composed in 2019, is a ten minute long journey through the entire range of the piano. Dialogues opens with eerie rumblings, emanating from deep within the boughs of the resonant instrument. This low, squirrelly motive creates a texture which continues for the work's entirety. Novak quickly alternates between the extreme low and high registers of the piano, literally jerking the audience around. The Dialogues' consistent repetition turns tiresome after some time. Novak attempts to distract us by slightly changing the textures, but never enough to actually bring us somewhere new.

Starting in the second half of the piece, Novak introduces an annoying, rhythmic hammering on the highest key of the piano. At first it excites and propels the piece, but again Novak insists upon the loud, extreme note for minutes, until it mutates the work into a concert hall migraine.

Most disappointingly, after ten full minutes of anxiety-ridden repeated noises, the piece ends in nothing but the pianist still dinging away at that high C.

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© 2023 Brutal New Music Reviews
originally written and published 23 March 2023

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