This week's track was Study No. 2: An Approximate Series of Approximate Harmonic Series by Seth Horvitz.
Taken from his Eight Studies for Automatic Piano album it,
makes use of simple, computer-aided compositional processes to test the limits of human perception and machine precision. It relies on a bare minimum of technical means to explore notions of temporal distortion, iterative process, and elegant complexity. Presented in an immersive concert setting without the presence of a human performer, Eight Studies questions traditional notions of live performance and musical “life.”
Horvitz also records under several pseudonyms and is best known for his work as Sutekh. There's a great interview with him from 2012 in France which is worth watching.
When he came and played in Sydney in the early 2000s he was just beginning his explorations of the piano and I remember his commitment, even on tour, to tracking down practice studios.
This week's responses are interesting in the context of what the track actually was. Everyone picked up on something being slightly off-kilter about it.
BC (Wellington, NZ): "When I first listened to the beginning of this piece I was trying to analyse the sounds – are there 2 pianos or just one? On one hand it sounds quite traditional in its structure and then again quite contemporary. Then I listened to the piece more. It evoked for me the build-up of a short summer rain storm. Starting off with that burst of rain you get (illustrated by the long flourishes of notes that are played in the beginning of the piece) then slowly petering off to the rain drops hitting the window and rolling down the window as the storm ends (represented by the introduction of the shorter notes played amongst the flourishes which then disappear and then you’re left with singular notes towards the end). I rather liked this one!
SL (London): "#Virtuoso #Clinical #Cold #NeedsDrugs (Acid - preferably bad ! The musician ... not me !)"
NS (Sydney): "This is an intricate score. Full of drama and psychological story telling. A piece performed perhaps for a theatre or contemporary dance work? I think those would be the only contexts in which I could fully appreciate a sound such as this."
KH (Melbourne): "I'm not sure about this track. The first half was more appealing on the second round of listening. On the whole though it made me feel a little mentally confused, especially trying to focus on individual parts; I felt like I couldn't and then I likened the experience to a mental illness. Was this proper piano playing or the kind that I would do and I felt like it sounded kinda sophisticated. Does that matter? I could imagine that it would accompany some images well. I don't think though that I would ever think, oh I might just pop on that tinkerly piano track."
MBS (Sydney): "This piece conjures of memories of competing at piano competitions. There would always be someone who chose to play some ridiculous, hyper-virtuosic, ‘new music’ sounding work. As if this demonstrated edginess… unfortunately I cannot divorce these thoughts from this track. Undoubtedly the person / composer performing this week’s track is very skilled. But the range of expression is loud, louder, even louder. And the composition sounds like Hanon, Dohnanyi, and Czerny having a mash-up session."
DJO (British Columbia): ""Chico Marx got booked in the wrong club. He was fed Magic Mushrooms and green tea for his hot meal and told he had to improvise. The audience took turns throwing grapes which he deftly caught in his mouth while playing...playing he didnt know what. His eyes laughing, coat tails swinging, grapes and fingers flying, and then, when the grapes ran out, slowing till finishing like the last efforts of a wind up toy."
KTC (Sydney): "I find the rawness of unfiltered piano to be quite honest music; the personality and emotion of the player is transparent and exposed. I kept thinking about Picasso when listening to this. I assume the musician is an accomplished classical player who has eschewed traditional skills to explore the outer edges of what is possible with the medium. Just as Picasso (an accomplished traditional painter) did when exploring Cubism."