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Nude Rolling Down an Escalator: Studies for Disklavier
Kyle Gann
Nude Rolling Down an Escalator: Studies for Disklavier
Genre: Classical
 
  •  Track Listings (10) - Disc #1

?Some of the rhythms developed through the present acoustical investigation could not be played by any living performer; but these highly engrossing rhythmical complexes could easily be cut on a player-piano roll. This wou...  more »

     
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CD Details

All Artists: Kyle Gann
Title: Nude Rolling Down an Escalator: Studies for Disklavier
Members Wishing: 2
Total Copies: 0
Label: New World Records
Original Release Date: 6/7/2005
Release Date: 6/7/2005
Genre: Classical
Styles: Chamber Music, Historical Periods, Classical (c.1770-1830), Modern, 20th, & 21st Century
Number of Discs: 1
SwapaCD Credits: 1
UPC: 093228063322

Synopsis

Product Description
?Some of the rhythms developed through the present acoustical investigation could not be played by any living performer; but these highly engrossing rhythmical complexes could easily be cut on a player-piano roll. This would give a real reason for writing music specially for player-piano . . .? ?Henry Cowell Like many composers of subsequent generations, Kyle Gann (born 1955) was captivated by Cowell?s theories and Nancarrow?s music. His book, The Music of Conlon Nancarrow, is the essential source for any serious study of Nancarrow?s work. Knowing so much about Nancarrow?s music, it?s hardly surprising that it would occur to Gann to consider the question of how he might make the mechanical piano his own. His answer is the music on this recording. The instrument isn?t exactly the same. Nancarrow employed the old-fashioned player piano, driven by paper rolls with holes punched in them. Gann uses the more recent Disklavier, which is controlled by a computer via MIDI data. However, like Nancarrow, Gann employs the mechanical piano for both musical and practical reasons. The musical attraction, of course, is the one Cowell observed: The instrument allows the composer to compose with tempo relationships and rhythmic velocities not readily playable by human performers. The practical appeal is that Gann felt that not enough people were playing his music. So in the do-it-yourself spirit of Nancarrow, Lou Harrison, Harry Partch and so many other American composers, he decided to take matters into his own virtual hands. But although Gann?s reasons for working with the mechanical piano are similar to Nancarrow?s, the musical results are quite different. Gann picks up where Nancarrow left off, developing his own personal methods of working with multiple tempo layers, and weaving elements of popular and classical music into his vivid and distinctive musical tapestries. Gann?s music embraces a wide range of influences but sounds like no other. His fascination with complex tempo structures and microtonal tunings places him in the experimentalist tradition from Cowell to La Monte Young. Yet the directness and accessibility of his music reveal his affinity with American populists such as Roy Harris and Virgil Thomson. In this highly personal blend of experimentalism and populism, Gann?s closest musical forebears are Partch and Charles Ives. In the spirit of Ives, Gann?s music invokes ragtime, jazz, folk music and Native American music on equal footing with classical music and purely abstract sonic speculations.
 

CD Reviews

Wonderful!
E. Ribeiro | 07/28/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)

"For a supposedly avant-garde disc, this one's a lot of fun, though there are serious parts as well - in general the first half is fun, the second serious. The music is all for Disklavier, which is a modern-day player piano. Gann is author of a book on Conlon Nancarrow, the expat recluse who wrote tons of music for player piano, and he obviously learned a lot about the instrument from that experience. But while his music sounds like Nancarrow's in places, it is more melodic, more conventionally harmonic, more whimsical - and maybe even easier to listen to for people who find Nancarrow forbidding. The pieces are very diverse - there's a tango, a stride piano piece, a bebop piece, and a waltz, among other things, all made eccentric by having the melodies and accompaniments at different tempos. Sometimes Gann's sense of humor is remarkable, as in the piece (Petty Larceny) composed entirely of quotations from Beethoven sonatas, cleverly superimposed. The last piece, Unquiet Night, accounting for 16 out of 61 minutes, uses the sustain pedal all the way through, and is an impressionist blur of changing harmonies. There are many beautiful moments, many funny ones, and I think the disc could appeal to a lot of people not usually interested in modern music.



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Profound, Accessible, Beautiful
Noah Creshevsky | New York City | 07/31/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)

"For anyone interested in experiencing new musical pleasures, there is hardly a more appealing disc than this one, featuring 10 works for Disklavier. Kyle Gann is high on a short list of America's most significant--and most significantly undervalued composers. These extraordinary pieces ought to go a long way toward confirming Gann's place as an American original and one its finest composers. Understandably, much is made of Gann's extensive musical and academic background, but what sets his music apart is his innate talent, the strength of his ear, and the breadth of his musical imagination. Gann's seamless integration of popular and classical elements, together with his sense of humor make these pieces easy to hear, even by listeners who do not often encounter new music. But just beneath a veil of levity and accessibility are deep layers of complexities that make these pieces an ongoing joy for serious listeners. It's a disc that can be heard repeatedly with pleasure. These are works of probable historical importance by one of our best composers."