The Well-Tuned Piano
The Well-Tuned Piano (1964) is a musical composition for just tuned piano by La Monte Young.
Young considers the piece—a permuting composition of themes and improvisations for just-intuned solo piano—to be his masterpiece. Performances have exceeded six hours in length, and so far have been documented twice: first on a five-CD set issued by Gramavision, then a later performance on a DVD on Young's own Just Dreams label. One of the defining works of American musical minimalism, it is strongly influenced by mathematical composition as well as Hindustani classical music practice.
The Well-Tuned Piano is based on a pitch lattice of perfect fifths and harmonic sevenths.[2] The Magic Opening Chord consists of E♭, B♭, D, and A.[3]
- The Well-Tuned Piano (1964-73-81-present). Each realization is a separately titled and independent composition. Over 60 realizations to date. World première: Rome 1974. American première: New York 1975;
- Chords from The Well-Tuned Piano (1981–present), sound environments. Includes: The Opening Chord (1981), The Magic Chord (1984), The Magic Opening Chord (1984);
Discography
- The Well Tuned Piano 81 X 25 (6:17.50 - 11:18:59 PM NYC) (Gramavision, 1988)[4]
- The Well-Tuned Piano in The Magenta Lights (87 V 10 6:43:00 PM 87 V 11 01:07:45 AM NYC) (Just Dreams, DVD-9, 2000)
Sources
- ^ Grimshaw, Jeremy (2011). Draw A Straight Line and Follow It: The Music and Mysticism of La Monte Young, p.176. ISBN 9780199740208.
- ^ Gann, Kyle (1997). "La Monte Young's The Well-Tuned Piano", La Monte Young Web Page.
- ^ Potter, Keith (2002). Four musical minimalists: La Monte Young, Terry Riley, Steve Reich, Philip Glass, p.86-87. ISBN 9780521015011.
- ^ Olewnick, Brian (2011). "The Well Tuned Piano 81 X 25 (6:17.50 - 11:18:59 PM NYC)", AllMusic.com.
Further reading
- Gann, Kyle (Winter 1993). "La Monte Young's The Well-Tuned Piano", Perspectives of New Music, Volume 31 Number 1.
External links