Asked to create a duet for piano, Thomas Oboe Lee was initially inspired by numerology. He was reading Annemarie Schimmel’s, The Mystery of Numbers, when the number 22 especially drew his eye. That led him to the Tarot deck with its 22 Major Arcana and eventually to the creation of a piano opus dedicated to the cards.
Lee wrote The Visconti-Sforza Tarot Cards (22 Salon Pieces for 2 pianos), Op. 66 in 1996. Each piece was inspired by a different card starting with Il Matto. The Fool entertains the gathered guests with a tarantella, and ending with Il Mondo. The World would be a happier place if we all dance together. It’s like a musical Tarot deck.
Lee just posted this short video of a George Rhoads’ sculpture with his own Il Giudizio. On the Day of Judgement, the angels blow their trumpets… as soundtrack. The pianists are Robert Levin and Ya-Fei Chuang.
And listen here to Lee’s Eight Tarot Cards for Madam Rubio – La Ruota della Fortuna with Nancy Zeltsman and Janice Potter on marimbas.
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For more music and Tarot, check out the Cascade Jazz Ensemble backing up the Tower card.