The Visconti-Sforza Tarot Cards (1996)

by Thomas Oboe Lee

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	1.	Il Matto 01:14
	2.	Il Saltimbanco 01:46
	3.	La Papessa 03:23
	4.	L'Imperatrice 02:16
	5.	L'Imperatore 03:00
	6.	Il Papa 01:07
	7.	L'Amore 02:10
	8.	Il Carro 02:04
	9.	La Giustizia 01:11
	10.	Il Vecchio 03:29
	11.	La Ruota della Fortuna 02:44
	12.	La Fortezza 00:49
	13.	Il Penduto 01:41
	14.	La Morte 02:45
	15.	La Temperanza 01:20
	16.	Il Diavolo 02:05
	17.	La Torre 01:03
	18.	La Stella 01:26
	19.	La Luna 02:37
	20.	Il Sole 01:45
	21.	Il Giudizio 00:53
	22.	Il Mondo 01:13

about

The literature for two pianos is vast and varied. Major contributions have been composed by Mozart, Schubert, Brahms, Poulenc, Gottschalk and Messiaen. When the Reed sisters, Elizabeth & Lydia, asked me to write a new work for two pianos, I wasn't quite sure where or how to begin. Then I came upon a book on numerology by Annemarie Schimmel, "The Mystery of Numbers." In it I discovered a lot of fascinating things, mystical and magical, associated with each number from one to 10,000. Since I would be writing a piece for a duo, double digits would do the trick. Number 22 stood out. It has two important associations: the Hebrew alphabet has 22 letters, and there are 22 major arcana cards or "allegories" of the Tarot. Perfect! I could write 22 pieces, each a musical rendering of a card. [And, coincidentally, this is opus 66.] For pictorial inspiration, I bought a Pierpont Morgan Library copy of the Visconti-Sforza Tarot Cards from 15th century Italy. For musical inspiration, I listened to the wonderful salon music of the Polish composer Frederic Chopin, the American composer Louis Moreau Gottschalk, and the Brazilian composer Ernesto Nazareth.

credits

released May 6, 2019

The Evan Hirsch-Sally Pinkas Piano Duo

Music by Thomas Oboe Lee

© Departed Feathers Music, Inc. - BMI

Recorded on Jun 17-19, 2002
Hopkins Center, Dartmouth College
Hanover, New Hampshire

Recording engineer: Antonio Oliart Ros
Editing and Mastering: Evan Hirsch

YouTube link: youtu.be/6I_GLjap-04

® 2005 ARSIS Audio, Boston, MA

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about

Thomas Oboe Lee Cambridge, Massachusetts

Thomas Oboe Lee was born in China in 1945. He lived in São Paulo, Brazil, for six years before coming to the United States in 1966. After graduating from the University of Pittsburgh, he studied composition at the New England Conservatory and Harvard University. He has been a member of the music faculty at Boston College since 1990. ... more

thomasoboelee.com

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