A premiere for 11,000 strings
OrchestrasThe ever-unconventional composer Georg Friedrich Haas has come up with ingenious instrumentation for his latest work.
11, 000 Saiten (11,000 Strings) is scored for 50 microtonally tuned pianos and chamber orchestra.
It will be premiered by 50 student pianists from the Gustav Mahler Academy Orchestra in Bolzano on August 1.
The orchestra consists of 2 fl, ob, cl, sax, bn, hr, tr, 2 tbn, 2 perc, acc, harpsichord, harp, celesta, 3 vl, 2 vla, 2 vlc, cb.
Do the maths,
As long as everyone keeps their clothes on, I have no issues with this.
Fifty pianos!
I wonder if they purposely re-tune each piano individually or just trek around the music school until they find fifty pianos that are already appropriately out-of-tune.
Sounds like yet another modern composition that will never again be played anywhere after its premiere n go straight to the dustbin of history.
You are aware, are you not, that that’s what happened to new compositions in **every period of music history**. It is not a particular characteristic of “new music” now.
That’s what happens when composers want people to care more about the weird choice of instruments instead of the actual musical content.
wrong
https://festival.cz/en/koncerty/11-000-strun/
The actual construction of 50 microtonal pianos is perhaps the most remarkable part of the project.
What did happen to Harry Partch?