add to cart
add to wantlist
email a friend
 
PRICE:
$14.50
LOW STOCK LEVEL
1-2 Weeks
01. HAUSCHKA - La Seine
02. HAUSCHKA - Traffic
03. HAUSCHKA - Fernpunkt
04. HAUSCHKA - Where Were You
05. HAUSCHKA - Gingko Tree
06. HAUSCHKA - Firn
07. HAUSCHKA - Twins
08. HAUSCHKA - Two Stones
09. HAUSCHKA - Kein Wort
10. HAUSCHKA - Long Walk
11. HAUSCHKA - Kreuzung
12. HAUSCHKA - Morning
ARTIST
TITLE
The Prepared Piano
FORMAT
CD

LABEL
CATALOG #
KK 031CD KK 031CD
GENRE
RELEASE DATE
9/27/2005

Pianist and composer Volker Bertelmann releases his second album with Karaoke Kalk, The Prepared Piano. With his debut release, Substantial, Bertelmann proved himself a master of deconstructed piano sounds, experimenting with form and the interplay of single, sustained piano notes against the backdrop of a few selected instruments. In the same way, The Prepared Piano is focused on just one piano, and a smattering of synthesizer, bass and drum, though it sounds as if there is an entire orchestra accompanying him. Tracing back his roots, and continuing a new tradition expressed by current composerArvo Pärt, Steffan Schleiermacher, Frangis Ali-Sade, Edison Denissow, and Philip Corner, Bertelmann rediscovers the masters of the prepared piano such as Bartok's contemporary Henry Cowell, John Cage, and Otto Schrager, with echoes of Satie and Ravel. Hauschka finds the possibilities in nontraditional technique, clamping wedges of leather, felt or rubber between the piano-strings, preparing hammers with aluminum paper or rough films, placing crown corks on the strings, or weaving in guitar strings. The result is small rhythmic sound-vignettes and quiet ballads which all have their roots in East Asian harmonies and minimalism. These are vivid, unconventional pieces of music that are made of playful research and child-like enthusiasm -- academically illuminated.