‘Pianist’s is a somewhat misleading, belittling even, title for Reinhold Friedl, much as ‘new music ensemble’ is for his troupe Zeitkratzer. The latter realise ‘un-performable’ electronic works by the likes of Terre Thaemlitz and Alva Noto on chamber instruments, their most famous achievement being Lou Reed’s Metal Machine Music with Lou on axe. It turns out that much of the electronic sounds Zeitkratzer summon from their acoustic instruments can be sourced from Friedl’s piano, specifically the resonant body, strings, nuts and bolts of a prepared Steinway D-274, which Friedl showcases to spellbinding effect on this comprehensive two CD set.
Anyone who’s excited, as I am, by the capacity for extra-musical sounds to be extracted from traditional instruments will be thrilled by Friedl’s work here. Alongside these, John Cage’s preparations seem dainty and quaint; Friedl lies closer to the spirit of Cage’s teacher Henry Cowell, his strummed sound gails from The Banshee and Tide of Manaunaun‘s shuddering forearm clusters. Over nine pieces and two hours, Friedl demonstrates the breadth of sonic effects his instrument is capable of, from strange and restrained zither-like whispers through ethereal spectral choir effects and violent brassy devastation. In this sense Inside Piano functions somewhat like a stereo demonstration disc, those sound effects LPs of the fifties, and it possesses a similar capacity to awe. There’s also something of Eno and Oval’s generative music, Friedl creating the signal chain – in this case pebbles, screws, ballbearings and whatnot linked to the piano’s wood and metal mechanisms – depressing the keys and setting off the trigger, then himself marvelling at the results. Inside Piano offers a glimpse behind closed doors, or under shut lids, showing just how naughty this sober salon instrument can be, when handled the right way.
Joshua Meggitt
