George Nicholson

Tronie

George Nicholson 's ten minute 2013 piece Tronie, arranged for solo Piano. This solo Piano piece was written in 2013. It is a response to Rembrandt's astonishing portrait of his mother painted when he was in his early twenties and at a time when she would have been about sixty and therefore described as an 'old woman'. It may have been intended rather as a generic depiction of the ravages of old age a 'tronie' or genre painting but it strikes me as being a very moving and vividly characterised study of a real living individual, a penetratingly honest and unflinching portrayal at that. In Tronie I have attempted to make a musical statement about old age not only thefrailty, the loss of powers and the resignation, but also the pride and defiance of the old. The piece is dedicated to the memory of my mother-in-law, Andy Ginsborg, who died in February 2013. - George Nicholson