Steve Reich: Six Pianos (At Home)

Photo credit: Jeffrey Herman

The American monarch of minimalism, Steve Reich, began with the idea of a work to be performed on all the pianos in a piano store, at the same time. Perhaps unable to secure the requisite 1,000 monkeys, he settled on a work for just a half-dozen uprights. 1973’s Six Pianos remains a key composition in the minimalist movement, a light but invigorating marvel of phase shifting and hypnotic patterns.

The esteemed techno label Kompakt is collaborating with Cologne Culture Stream to present a live-stream of Reich’s piece, performed remotely by German pianists Gregor Schwellenbach, Erol Sarp, Daniel Brandt, Paul Frick, and Kai Schumacher, with Canada’s own John Kameel Farah completing the half-dozen. It’s a reprise, exactly four years to the day after their joint premiere at the Cologne Philharmonie in 2016.

For Eastern Canadian readers: the performance begins at 1pm EST. It will be followed by an online video chat with the pianists… should be fun.

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