Bleep

Key piano works by two of the foremost progenitors of musical minimalism, Steve Reich and Terry Riley, are explored in new ways by esteemed modern classical artists – including Hauschka and Brandt Brauer Frick.

Reich’s ‘Six Pianos’ is uniquely interpreted by Gregor Schwallenbach, Hauschka, John Kneel Farah Grandbrothers’ Erol Sarp as well as Brandt Brauer Frick’s Daniel Brandt and Paul Frick, who recorded their individual parts separately in six different studios across Germany, which were then mixed by Jan Brauer and Lukas Vogel. ‘Six Pianos’ fully exploits the latest advances in studio technology, and is thus unlike any other recording of the work: six individual performances are heard at once, rather than one collective performance, each projecting the unique style of a specific performer, resulting in a deep, multi-dimensional listening experience where one is offered multiple paths to follow.

The performance of Riley’s ‘Keyboard Study No. 1’ is similarly adventurous, pushing indeterminate aspects of the work to the extreme. Ever-lengthening, repeating patterns in the right and left hands, largely shaped by the performer whom Riley allows considerable freedom, play off against one another throughout, resulting in a kind of meditative vortex. Exploring the limits of Riley’s instructions, this performance takes the work in new directions, demonstrating its versatility and adaptability, and imbuing it with a distinctly 2016 feel.