Evolution of the Piano, live at Emerald City Music

EVOLUTION follows the significant thread of influence and development of the keyboard throughout the history of Western classical music. Featuring the harpsichord, piano, and the modern-day synth.

Explore chronicles of the world’s most versatile family of instruments: the keyboard. From harpsichord and piano to the modern-day synthesizer, this evening is packed full of both iconic and eclectic keyboard tunes.

The Tunes

Jordan Machine Poem no. 2 for piano and synthesizer
Scarlatti Piano Sonata in A Major
Ravel Gaspard de la nuit
Beethoven Piano Sonata in E Major, op. 109
Glass Piano Etude no. 2
Cage Selections from Sonatas no.1 and Sonata no. 5
Tallis . Felix Namque II
Chopin Polonaise no. 6, op. 53 “Heroic”

The Story
This epic performance tells the tale of the world’s most loved and versatile instrument. Listeners will follow its physical evolution and the iconic music written at each stage of technological development: from the harpsichord through the forte-piano, contemporary piano, prepared-piano, and modern day instruments like synthesizer. Early composers like Thomas Tallis (1505-1589) and Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757) were defining masters of the instrument, inspiring the likes of Beethoven and Chopin to write more challenging and dynamic music as the technical ability of the piano developed during the Industrial Revolution. Pianos soon became progressively larger, louder, and wider range of octaves (five by the 1790s and seven by 1820). Enter John Cage, who for a time resided in Seattle creating music that again redefined the abilities of the acoustic piano by “preparing it” by placing objects in the instrument to alter the tonal ability. The evolution of modern day technologies again reinvented the keyboard to infinitely expanding the range of the instrument via the computer-aided synthesizer.

The Artists
Henry Kramer, piano • Vicky Chow, piano and prepared piano • Jeremy Jordan, piano and synthesizer • Kenneth Weiss, harpsichord

On