Christian Wolff: Long Piano

In 2004, the Music Department of Stanford University made an unusual commission to composer Christian Wolff on behalf of pianist Thomas Schultz for a piano work lasting an hour that was not subdivided into individual movements, in the manner of cycle, collection, or sonata. This was quite a challenge for Wolff, a onetime acolyte of John Cage, who has a preference for working in short forms; sometimes very short: the eighth piece in his Keyboard Miscellany (begun in 1988 and continuing through November 2009) runs just 17 ... Read More

In 2004, the Music Department of Stanford University made an unusual commission to composer Christian Wolff on behalf of pianist Thomas Schultz for a piano work lasting an hour that was not subdivided into individual movements, in the manner of cycle, collection, or sonata. This was quite a challenge for Wolff, a onetime acolyte of John Cage, who has a preference for working in short forms; sometimes very short: the eighth piece in his Keyboard Miscellany (begun in 1988 and continuing through November 2009) runs just 17 seconds. Nevertheless, Wolff accepted the commission and spent a year composing Long Piano, which Wolff produced through the development of 93 patches of various lengths; a final, 94th patch was added as a kind of a preamble to the whole when Wolff decided that the overall piece was still a little too short. He has also added Long Piano to his series of Peace Marches, which he began in 1983; this is designated as Peace March 11.The preamble added last is one of the most engaging parts... Read Less