{"id":7546,"date":"2026-09-27T14:46:43","date_gmt":"2026-09-27T19:46:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alzand.com\/?page_id=7546"},"modified":"2026-09-27T14:58:05","modified_gmt":"2026-09-27T19:58:05","slug":"karim-al-zand-music-hammers-and-tongs","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/alzand.com\/?page_id=7546","title":{"rendered":"Karim Al-Zand: Music: Hammers and Tongs"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Hammers and Tongs<\/h2>\n

for piano<\/h5>\n

H<\/span>ammers and Tongs is a short and lively moto perpetuo<\/i>. The piece was commissioned as the required contemporary work for the 2026 George Enescu International Piano Competition. The composition also forms a study on\"\"<\/a> the musical interval of a second, with a focus on an idiosyncratic piano technique in which the thumb is used to play two adjacent pitches. The title derives from the old English idiom \u201chammer and tongs,\u201d a reference to both the vigorous character of the piece, and percussive mechanism of the piano.<\/p>\n

hammer and tongs | adverb (colloquial): with great force, vigor, determination, or vehemence; with the greatest possible strength or force; an allusion to a blacksmith repeatedly hammering a hot piece of iron held with tongs. E.g., \u201cWhen he starts a di\ufb03cult job, he goes at it hammer and tongs.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The dynamic and powerful performance of Hammers and Tongs<\/i> by South Korean pianist Jeongwoo Lee<\/strong>, 18, earned him the \u20ac2000 award for “best performance of the imposed work.”<\/br><\/br><\/p>\n

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purchase score & parts<\/span><\/h4> <\/span>Learn More<\/span><\/a> <\/div>\n
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purchase CD recording<\/span><\/h4> <\/span>Learn More<\/span><\/a> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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DATE
\n2026<\/br><\/br><\/p>\n

DURATION
\n4’30”<\/br><\/br><\/p>\n

INSTRUMENTATION
\npiano<\/br><\/br><\/p>\n

COMMISSION
\n2026 Enescu International Piano Competition<\/br><\/br><\/p>\n

PREMI\u00c8RE
\nSeptember 14-15, 2026, Bucharest, Romania
\n2nd Round Pianists of the Competition<\/br><\/br><\/p>\n

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AUDIO
\nCOMING SOON!<\/br><\/br><\/p>\n

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SCORE
\nPDF<\/a><\/br><\/br><\/p>\n

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VIDEO<\/p>\n

COMING SOON!<\/br><\/br><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hammers and Tongs for piano Hammers and Tongs is a short and lively moto perpetuo. The piece was commissioned as the required contemporary work for the 2026 George Enescu International Piano Competition. The composition also forms a study on<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-7546","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alzand.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7546","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alzand.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alzand.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alzand.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alzand.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7546"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/alzand.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7546\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7566,"href":"https:\/\/alzand.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7546\/revisions\/7566"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alzand.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7546"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}