Kyle Gann's 'Studies for a Disklavier' Set to Dance by Mark Morris & Company
BUENA PARK, Calif. — Acclaimed composer, author, Village Voice new music critic and educator Kyle Gann first encountered a Yamaha Disklavier® in the early '90s at Bucknell University, when a colleague employed one in rehearsals for singers. "I was working on my book, "The Music of Conlon Nancarrow" (Cambridge University Press, 1995)," says Gann. "He wrote three-quarters of his music for player piano, and his compositions are considered to be among the most rhythmically complex pieces ever written; no human could ever play them. Even if you had a player piano, you couldn't write for it without a hole-punching machine (which Nancarrow had someone invent for him)."
Fast forward to 1997. Gann began teaching music history and theory at Bard College, was given the choice of a grand piano or a Disklavier, and chose the latter. He has since composed a few major works for the instrument, and "Nude Rolling Down An Escalator: Studies for Disklavier" (New World Records, 2005), the first CD composed and performed entirely on a Disklavier. In May, several Gann compositions became the springboard for a sold-out world premiere choreographed and performed by Mark Morris Dance Company at Boston's new Institute of Contemporary Art. A Yamaha Disklavier, onstage for all performances, "display(ed) rhythmic complexities beyond the reach of mortals," writes Thea Singer, Boston Globe, "(and) …fairly danc(ed) its way through pieces 'Tango da Chiesa,' 'Despotic Waltz,' and 'Texarkana'."
In his online blog, Gann writes, "I've finally figured out what I want to do when I grow up: write Disklavier pieces for dance… you get to watch people transfer your rhythmic ideas into three-dimensional space in gestures surprising, comical and poignant, and then you bow at the end. What could possibly be better?"
"There seems no end to the complexity, sophistication and intoxication of Mr. Morris's choreographic response," writes Alastair Macaulay in The New York Times, and Gann concurs: "I was really impressed with the number of rhythmic levels Mark brought out," he says. "The dancers were moving at more than one tempo, simultaneously, offering an amazing visual translation."
The Disklavier has changed the way Gann composes. "It's like a sketch pad for me. Before, when writing for ensemble, I'd have to be careful about tempo when instruments were playing together. With the Disklavier, I put a dot anywhere on the page and it just plays when it comes up," he continues. "I can write and improvise without thinking ahead. It's more spontaneous, and more private, just me and the instrument."
As a direct result of "Studies for Disklavier," Gann has been commissioned by orchestra Volharding to write a piano concerto to premier in Amsterdam on October 31: he's writing in a style derived from working with the Disklavier.
"I am getting my students involved in writing for Disklavier," he adds, citing historically important projects focused on translations of player piano rolls: George Antheil's "Ballet Mécanique" using 16 Disklavier pianos, (Accent, Winter 2000) and Nancarrow's work. "But there's a problem with Nancarrow's music," Gann acknowledges. "He altered the hammers on his own piano to produce a more brittle sound; on a regular piano, it sounds mushy. If a Disklavier could be dedicated to his music, which is so dependent on timbre, it would sound more like he intended, like a harpsichord."
For further information, please visit www.kylegann.com.
For more information on Yamaha Disklavier pianos, write Yamaha Corporation of America, Piano Division, P.O. Box 6600, Buena Park, CA 90622; telephone (714) 522-9011; email infostation@yamaha.com; or visit Disklavier.
 Kyle Gann |
In his online blog, Gann writes, "I've finally figured out what I want to do when I grow up: write Disklavier pieces for dance… you get to watch people transfer your rhythmic ideas into three-dimensional space in gestures surprising, comical and poignant, and then you bow at the end. What could possibly be better?"
"There seems no end to the complexity, sophistication and intoxication of Mr. Morris's choreographic response," writes Alastair Macaulay in The New York Times, and Gann concurs: "I was really impressed with the number of rhythmic levels Mark brought out," he says. "The dancers were moving at more than one tempo, simultaneously, offering an amazing visual translation."
The Disklavier has changed the way Gann composes. "It's like a sketch pad for me. Before, when writing for ensemble, I'd have to be careful about tempo when instruments were playing together. With the Disklavier, I put a dot anywhere on the page and it just plays when it comes up," he continues. "I can write and improvise without thinking ahead. It's more spontaneous, and more private, just me and the instrument."
As a direct result of "Studies for Disklavier," Gann has been commissioned by orchestra Volharding to write a piano concerto to premier in Amsterdam on October 31: he's writing in a style derived from working with the Disklavier.
"I am getting my students involved in writing for Disklavier," he adds, citing historically important projects focused on translations of player piano rolls: George Antheil's "Ballet Mécanique" using 16 Disklavier pianos, (Accent, Winter 2000) and Nancarrow's work. "But there's a problem with Nancarrow's music," Gann acknowledges. "He altered the hammers on his own piano to produce a more brittle sound; on a regular piano, it sounds mushy. If a Disklavier could be dedicated to his music, which is so dependent on timbre, it would sound more like he intended, like a harpsichord."
For further information, please visit www.kylegann.com.
For more information on Yamaha Disklavier pianos, write Yamaha Corporation of America, Piano Division, P.O. Box 6600, Buena Park, CA 90622; telephone (714) 522-9011; email infostation@yamaha.com; or visit Disklavier.