Blood

Instrumentation: amplified piano
Duration: 08:56

View the score →

Program Notes

Blood imagines the piano as a resonant body, shifting focus from its traditional role as a melodic and harmonic instrument to its raw physicality and potential for percussive expression. In this composition, the pianist disregards conventional technique, engaging directly with the instrument’s interior—the strings, soundboard, and frame—to produce sound that emphasizes timbre, texture, and rhythm.

The performer employs extended techniques such as string plucking, muting, and striking, as well as direct interaction with the piano’s hardware—pedals, pins, and hammers—to uncover a spectrum of percussive effects. These techniques draw attention to the sonic properties of the piano’s materials and construction: the metallic resonance of strings, the hollow thrum of the soundboard, and the sharp attack of struck surfaces.

This piece challenges the piano’s traditional role in music, presenting it instead as an acoustic object with its own distinct voice. The juxtaposition of familiar piano tones with the raw sounds of its mechanics create an interplay between the expected and the unexpected, between music and noise. Through these explorations, Blood reconsiders the piano’s identity, inviting a deeper appreciation of its physical presence and the limitless possibilities it offers as a source of sound.