Sophia Subbayya Vastek

#4180: Music for Piano, Plus...

New Sounds | Nov 14, 2019

Hear music that starts with piano and goes beyond, including a work by Kelly Moran for prepared piano and synths, a piece by Dan Tepfer for piano and programming, and a work for a re-tuned piano that plays in near eastern microtonal scale from a record by pianist Sophia Subbayya Vastek.

Listen to music from Baltimore-based pianist Sophia Subbayya Vastek’s latest record, Histories, featuring a work by Michael Harrison which combines harmonies in a raga Hijaz Bhairav (also known as the Hijaz mode in Arabic music) with a Western arpeggio-like riffs. The Hijaz mode is microtonal and the piano was retuned accordingly.

There’s also music by pianist, composer, and producer Kelly Moran for prepared piano and synths. It’s a fluid work, fittingly titled "Water Music," and comes from her latest record, Ultraviolet. Then, hear music for piano from Dan Tepfer in which a computer responds to him in real-time as he plays, but according to “simple rules” - musical algorithims that he programmed. 

Listen to music by German composer, pianist, and broadcaster, Hans Otte, who was deeply inspired by Eastern mysticism. This is from a reissue of 1980’s work, The Book of Sound. Plus, hear music by pianist/composer Blue Gene Tyranny, who worked with John Cage, Iggy Pop, and Carla Bley, among others.

Program #4180: Music for Piano, Plus...(First aired 12/03/2018)

ARTIST: Dan Tepfer
WORK: TriadSculpture, excerpt [1:00]
RECORDING: Natural Machines
SOURCE: Main Door Music
INFO: dantepfer.com/naturalmachines

ARTIST: Lubomyr Melnyk with Hatis Noit
WORK: Requiem for a Fallen Tree [7:16]
RECORDING: Fallen Tree
SOURCE: Erased Tapes 116 | Due out Dec. 7, 2018
INFO: erasedtapes.com

ARTIST: Kelly Moran
WORK: Water Music [6:30]
RECORDING: Ultraviolet
SOURCE:  Warp Records WARPCD/LP 297
INFO: https://kellymoran.lnk.to/UltravioletWe

ARTIST: Hans Otte
WORK: Part 2 [10:20]
RECORDING: The Book Of Sounds
SOURCE: Reissued by Beacon Sound
INFO: wearebeaconsound.com

ARTIST: Sophia Subbayya Vastek, piano and Anirban Roy Chowdhury, tabla
WORK: Michael Harrison: Hijaz Prelude [7:47]
RECORDING: Histories
SOURCE: Innova 974 
INFO: innova.mu

ARTIST: Dan Tepfer
WORK: TriadSculpture [5:09]
RECORDING: Natural Machines
SOURCE: Main Door Music
INFO: dantepfer.com/naturalmachines

ARTIST: Blue Gene Tyranny
WORK: Side B, excerpt [9:41]
RECORDING: The Intermediary
SOURCE: Lovely Music 1063 LP
INFO:  Out of print. lovely.com

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