“Suicide in an Airplane” is one of American composer Leo Ornstein’s most distinctive and iconoclastic pieces. Written around or after the conclusion of World War One, the piece is said to be inspired by a story of an airman dooming himself to a fiery death by deliberately crashing his own plane to the ground. The heavily mechanical piece is among his early works that were broadly labeled as “Futurist”.
Much of the piece consists of an ominous tremolo in the low registers that emulates the sound of an engine motor. The main melody in the right hand contains cold, piercing, blocks of cacophonous sevenths, creating an atmosphere of tension and anxiety. Once the suspenseful escalation reaches a brutal climax, making heavy use of all registers of the piano, the original themes return and fade away.
Date: 1918 or 1919
Catalogue: Severo Ornstein 6
Performer: Daniele Lombardi on piano
Note: This channel does not own the score or audio, and they are only used for non-commercial purpose
1 view
548
171
10 months ago 00:21:57 18
Ornstein - Piano Sonata IV (Kharitonov)
10 months ago 00:11:26 1
Yesipova plays Thalberg - Fantasia on Bellini’s “La Sonnambula“
11 months ago 00:20:03 1
Leo Ornstein - Piano Sonata No. 4 (1918)
1 year ago 00:00:52 1
Seeing Russia with Teacher, SO 552: V. The Carrousel
1 year ago 00:39:05 4
Ornstein - Piano Quintet, Op. 92 (Weber) [750 subscribers special]
2 years ago 00:03:52 1
Leo Ornstein - Suicide in an Airplane, SO 6
6 years ago 00:03:35 26
Ballade by Leo Ornstein Kenneth Tse & Casey Dierlam XVIII World Sax Congress 2018 #adolphesax
7 years ago 00:13:32 1
Hamelin plays Ornstein - Piano Quintet (3rd mvt) Audio + Sheet music
7 years ago 00:10:27 1
Hamelin plays Ornstein - Piano Quintet (2nd mvt) Audio + Sheet music
7 years ago 00:13:30 1
Hamelin plays Ornstein - Piano Quintet (1st mvt) Audio + Sheet music
8 years ago 00:05:09 4
Leo Ornstein - S600 - Nocturne for Clarinet and Piano
8 years ago 00:04:43 1
Leo Ornstein: Suicide in airplane (1916)
9 years ago 00:34:49 6
Leo Ornstein (1893-2002) : Piano Concerto (1921/23) **MUST HEAR**
9 years ago 00:03:52 5
Leo Ornstein S406 — Waltz No. 7
9 years ago 00:03:52 1
Leo Ornstein - S208 - Metaphor No 9
9 years ago 00:19:36 1
Three Tales for Piano (Leo Ornstein) - Audio + Sheet Music