Molecular Piano

Before, I have spoken of “extreme” piano, related to the phenomenon of “extreme sports” — I was talking about the masochistic marathon of Alvin Curran’s Hope Street Tunnel Blues III. Now, I want to propose the notion of “molecular piano.” I’m thinking of “molecular gastronomy” as practiced by Ferran Adrià and many others (focusing on ambiguities and subtle transformations — from one state of edible matter to another). And, I am thinking too of the study of “microsound.” The origins of “molecular” piano music (“granular” piano music?) surely date to the 1970s: Curtis Curtis-Smith‘s Rhapsodies for bowed piano, William Duckworth’s Time Curve Preludes, and probably George Crumb’s Makrokosmos. Sure, there’s line, and harmony, but you can listen, or perform, “sonically” just as well, one microscopic moment of sound morphing to the next — the raw to the cooked …