A New Universe of Piano Sound?

Abstract

The starting point for this research is simply musical curiosity. I believe that there is a hidden treasure of extended piano sound which is at this moment locked away, waiting to be discovered. I have had odd, tantalising glimpses from time to time of a world beyond, yet have had neither the means nor the motivation till now to discover it. This research is to try to find the key to this treasure and to freely distribute its content to whoever may be interested. Julian Johnson (2002:129)1 has eloquently described the resulting possibility of life-enhancing developments: Not only does music offer the possibility of transcending daily life; it offers, in as many forms as there are musics, a reshaping of these categories. It doesn’t obliterate them in some narcotic emptiness, but reworks them and thus offers us new models of experience. And this has real power, because as we participate in this process of enactment, we experience new ways for ourselves. When we leave the musical work and return to daily life, we have tasted a different way of being, a different perception of the world. Potentially, this leaves us marked by the experience. It subsequently produces an altered perception of the world. There are two strands in my musical background which I hope can be brought together as a result of this research: extended piano techniques and electronics. Boulez (cited in Emmerson 1986:6)2 has succinctly summarised a fundamental paradox: As though by a defensive reflex, the greate