Sample an hour of music made with the insides of the piano – bowed, prepared, retuned, and/or processed- for this New Sounds. Hear music from Stephen Scott and the Bowed Piano Ensemble, a work by Christopher Hopkins for pianist Margaret Leng Tan from our New Sounds Live concerts, music from pianist Lisa Moore by Irish composer Donnacha Dennehy, and recent work by composer, keyboardist and producer, Kelly Moran.
In 1972, composer C. Curtis Smith “invented” the technique of bowing the piano, using flexible bows made of monofilament nylon line (Edward B. Marks Music Company), which look something like fishing line. This technique might have hearkened back to John Cage’s work for prepared piano, and definitely laid the groundwork for other composers like George Crumb, Stephen Scott, or Christopher Hopkins to expand upon the idea.
Listen to “Entrada” for bowed piano ensemble, led by Stephen Scott, recorded in 2000 as part of the New Sounds Live concerts at the World Financial Center, now known as Brookfield Place. Most of the sounds are made directly on the strings of one open grand piano by ten players using a variety of materials and tools; nylon fish line, horsehair, guitar picks and fingernails, piano hammers, percussion mallets and specially-designed piano mutes.
Also, listen to a work by the Irish composer Donnacha Dennehy for “piano and soundtrack”, featuring the “Aussie-New Yorker pianist” and soloist Lisa Moore, who has worked with “lotsa folks inc Steve Reich Ens, Bang On A Can All-Stars, Ensemble Signal” and others. The soundtrack is made up of sampled piano, both inside and out, then retuned to provide “a massive harmonic spectrum of 100 overtones” (Lisa Moore’s Bandcamp).
Then there’s music by composer and Iowa State University music professor Christopher Hopkins for Margaret Leng Tan involving the piano’s insides and “tape” – in this case, recorded computer-generated sounds and processed bowed pianos, recorded at a New Sounds Live concert in 1995. Plus, hear music from Kelly Moran and her piece, “Helix” for prepared piano and processing from her 2018 record Ultraviolet.
Program #4258, Piano, From the Insides (First aired 7/18/2019)
ARTIST: Curtis Curtis-Smith
WORK: Curtis Curtis-Smith: Five Sonorous Inventions: Second Invention [1:30]
RECORDING: The Composer-Performer: 40 years of Discovery 1954-94
SOURCE: CRI 670
INFO: prestomusic.com
ARTIST: Stephen Scott and the Bowed Piano Ensemble
WORK: Entrada [8:07]
RECORDING: Live, World Financial Center's Winter Garden, October 25, 2000
SOURCE: This performance not commercially available.
INFO: youtube.com
ARTIST: Margaret Leng Tan
WORK: Christopher Hopkins:Arched Interiors [19:16]
RECORDING: Live, the New School, 1995
SOURCE: This performance not commercially available.
INFO: soundcloud.com/christopherhopkinsclassic
ARTIST: Kelly Moran
WORK: Helix [8:48]
RECORDING: Ultraviolet
SOURCE: WARPCD/LP 297
INFO: https://kellymoran.lnk.to/UltravioletWe
ARTIST: Lisa Moore
WORK: Donnacha Dennehy: Stainless Staining [10:21]
RECORDING: Stainless Staining
SOURCE/INFO: lisamoore.bandcamp.com