Classical Music | Piano Music

Recorded on 04/17/2016, uploaded on 04/17/2016

Musician's or Publisher's Notes

Lowell Liebermann was inspired to write this set of four programmatic movements in 1989 by the grotesque gargoyles in the Notre Dame Cathedral. Each of the four movements captures a distinct image of the gargoyles. In the first movement, I imagine the gargoyles come alive at midnight, naughtily scraping the walls, puffing around, and dancing with each other on the rooftop; the second movement depicts the solitary gargoyles mounted on the church walls at night, sadly singing to themselves; in the soulful third movement, the fluid arpeggiated accompaniment creates an overall shivering atmosphere, as if the water nymphs come out under the silvery moonlight, conversing with the gargoyles. The last movement is the final party before dawn where all of the gargoyles join the dancing celebration…until the morning sun shines in and they turn back into stone!                  Notes by Fei-Fei Dong

Courtesy of International Music Foundation.