Tregua (Truce), for two pianos.

December 24th 1914, Wordl War I.

Near Ypres (Belgium), the German army began decorating the trenches and sang Silent Night in German (Stille Nacht). Soon the English army answered singing it in English. After a silence, they began to shout and congratulate one another. The Christmas truce took place, and they shared gifts and hugs. There were no gunshots that night. The fallen soldiers were remembered in an improvised ceremony, reading Psalm 23.

I friend of mine and I wrote this little piece for two pianos a few years ago. We live very far from each other and we did it "online".

These days of war brought this work to my mind.

I love how this starts very simply by suggesting the "Silent Night" Christmas carol through allusion to its rhythms and some pitch content without directly quoting it.  Then towards the end you slowly slip into the theme which makes the variations in a way that makes the whole thing sound familiar.  Well done!  I think you also found a truly inspirational story of brotherhood during war that is probably unparalleled and unique.  Thank you for sharing this!

Edit:  In meas. 30 you seem to have a high C re-attacked, but in the score it's tied over from the previous measure.  Is this a mistake?

Fantastic. Like so many of your compositions, it has an oddly hypnotic, mesmerising quality - no doubt helped by the excellent recording.

I wonder if you could have developed the quartal/quintal texture at Bar 31? It's a really lovely moment and expanding it could potentially take the piece in a new, fantasy-like direction.

Thanks so much for taking part in this event - really enjoyed listening to this submission!

12 hours ago, PeterthePapercomPoser said:

 

Edit:  In meas. 30 you seem to have a high C re-attacked, but in the score it's tied over from the previous measure.  Is this a mistake?

 

Thanks....... Well, it's not. mistake. It is not tied, but slurred. Just an effect.

The whole "almost silent night" theme is really a great touch. Great composition and performance alike!

14 hours ago, PeterthePapercomPoser said:

Edit:  In meas. 30 you seem to have a high C re-attacked, but in the score it's tied over from the previous measure.  Is this a mistake?

Wow @PeterthePapercomPoser attention to detail much? 😄

Long time, Luis!

I love this piece -and I don't normally care for much modern tonal music these days.

There's a haunting quality to this -that's almost reminiscent of the Impressionists. It's almost poignant in a way.

Great work as always sir! Thanks for sharing.