Gustav Mahler. Originally built for a piano manufacturer, the building became home to a
music conservatory in 1911. It is exquisitely decorated in the Italian Renaissance style
and possesses a beautiful acoustic.
Richard’s Piano piece, The Jester’s Waltz, was awarded the Diploma in the Second Degree in National Professional Category in the Golden Key International Piano Composition Competition.
From the Judges: “Dear Mr. Altenbach,
Please accept our sincere congratulations on your exceptional performance at the XVII Golden Key Piano Composition Competition. You have competed among 104 participants from Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Germany, Great Britain, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Kuwait, Malaysia, Poland, Romania, Singapore, South Korea, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, The Netherlands, The United States and awarded Second Degree Diploma in National Professional Category.”
The composition (The Jester’s Waltz) has been recommended for the program of the World Composers Recital at the Golden Key Music Festival in Vienna, on July 31, 2024, where the Diploma and Winner’s Medal will be awarded to Richard on the stage of Vienna’s historic Ehrbar Hall during the Award Ceremony. A professional pianist has been chosen to perform and video/audio record the piece at the concert!
Description of Piece:
Being of Viennese extraction, Richard
has always had a soft spot for the
beauty and elegance of the waltz. But this is not that!
Rather than a reverential bow to Johann Strauss, “the Jester’s Waltz” owes more to the influence of Erik Satie, Cirque du Soleil, and the court jester from Edgar Allan Poe’s story, “Hop-Frog”. Richard’s farcical parody of the once-venerable dance form has been called “playful, hilarious, manic, fiendishly fast”…all of which bodes well to be entrusted to the sleight of hand mastery of a willing virtuoso pianist!
