Bang on a Can

"I think Frederic Rzewski's Piano Piece No. 4 shows a complete understanding of what the piano is able to do," says soloist Lisa Moore. "He is a virtuosic pianist who plays all his own music, and he really hit the nail on the head with this one. It's an acoustic phenomenon, a perpetual pulsating. The piece focuses on one of the most obvious characteristics of the piano--striking, hammering the string and the building up of resonance. It starts at the top of the piano with a pulsating note that grows, adding notes as it goes, and develops into a huge chord. It's about the closest you can get to an exploding piano. Frederic said, and it's true, that it sounds like the sound is coming from somewhere else. The resonance builds up and vibrates off the walls."