Microtonal Solo Piano Music

I have a real treat for today's podcast. I'm going to play four different microtonal pieces by four different composers, all for solo piano. Each was done using a different set of techniques to retune the piano, with different intonation systems, and all showcase the world between the 1:1 and the 2:1.

The first is by Aaron Krister Johnson, with a piece called Study for Kyle Gann. Here's what Aaron wrote about the piece:

In honor of his wonderful neo-Nancarrow work on the 'Studies for Disklavier' disk, I make this humble offering and dedicated it to Kyle Gann, the spirit of Conlon Nancarrow, and the inspiring 'impossible keyboard technique' made possible by the same.

There's a real nice 5 against 3 at the one minute and 45 seconds point, which really gets me up and going. Listen now to Study for Kyle Gann by Aaron Krister Johnson. Play song Nice ending there, with an acknowledgement to Conlon Nancarrow, Kyle Gann, and Bud Powell, all wraped up in a bow. Next up is a piece by Kyle Gann, the same Kyle Gann as was the target of Aaron's piece. Kyle is the music critic for the Village Voice and an associate professor of music at Bard College. This work is described by Kyle as follows:

Hello, gang, I've got a new piece, my first ever in 13-limit tuning. The tuning is simply all the ratios of whole numbers from 1 to 13, and the title is brbrbrbrbrbrbrbrbr) Triskaidekaphonia (rim shot) Dedicated to Aaron Krister Johnson for inspiring me to get to work on it.

• Tuning details here.
• Keyboard score as PDF here.
• Blog entry here.

A simple piece, over a drone, but it's taken a long time to get those 13-based intervals in my head. Enjoy!

Listen now to Triskaidekaphonia by Kyle Gann Play song.

Next up is my piece called Resolution in Blue for Microtonal Slide Piano. This piece explores what would happen if a piano had a wammy bar, a few dozen notes per octave, and a swell pedal. It's in just intonation, based on the tonality diamond to the 11 limit. The title, Resolution in Blue, is the diplomatic language at the UN for a permanent resolution. The security council uses this when it has a resolution read for a vote, when they are ready to remain siezed of the matter.

Play song.

The final piece is by Jeff Harrington for 19 tone piano, called Prelude #2. It is part of a series of four preludes Jeff wrote to be played together. I've played all four previously on a podcast. Today I'm just going to play the second one, since it has a lot in common with the other pieces I played today.

Play song.

Thanks for listening, Podcatchers!