music for children

6 short pieces for piano, cassette players and props
+ optional activities

Split piano is an ongoing project that collects a series of short works where the piano is split off and perceived from a transversal perspective. The universe of the conventional piano is expanded by using objects, lights, gestures and recordings.
Chapter I: Live movies
#1. Licht / light
#2. Knipoog / wink
#3. Straal / ray
Inspired by the animation techniques created by Norman McLaren, these etudes for one hand, a stand light and sound objects, are thought of as short movies to be played live.
Chapter II: Tapes
#4. Zeef / strainer
#5. Dans / dance
#6. Potlood / pencil
These three pieces are based on intervened recordings of music by Robert Schumann. The piano (and the pianist!) interacts with the tape in different ways: drawing, performing choreographic movements, or using the music notation as part of the performance.
The recordings can be done using vintage cassette tapes or a mobile phone, representing different historical periods, in addition to the dialogue with the music of Schumann. The media devices modify not only the sound color but the act of perception, bringing back Marshall McLuhan s statement “The medium is the message”

(*) Straal / Ray was included in Guy Livingston´s project  One minute more; animation by Juan de Graaf.

Related works:
• Time machine (2011)
• Gespleten piano