Conlon Nancarrow chose the player piano as the vehicle for his compositions because, when he was writing in the mid twentieth century, human performers simply weren't capable of executing them. Much to his amazement, toward the end of the composer's life, he discovered that instrumental technique had progressed to the point that at least some of his Studies were being performed, largely due to the efforts of pianist Yvar Mikhashoff, who played some himself and arranged others for Ensemble Modern. Since the 1980s, Nancarrow ...
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Conlon Nancarrow chose the player piano as the vehicle for his compositions because, when he was writing in the mid twentieth century, human performers simply weren't capable of executing them. Much to his amazement, toward the end of the composer's life, he discovered that instrumental technique had progressed to the point that at least some of his Studies were being performed, largely due to the efforts of pianist Yvar Mikhashoff, who played some himself and arranged others for Ensemble Modern. Since the 1980s, Nancarrow's music has continued to be arranged for and performed by a variety of instrumental combinations, and it has the durability and appeal to amaze and delight in the diverse guises in which it's possible to experience it now. Raaf Hekkama, of the Calefax Reed Quintet, has arranged an assortment of the Studies, plus three of Nancarrow's pieces for conventional piano, for the quintet and piano. The members of the ensemble play a variety of instruments, including oboe, English horn,...
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