Ballade.Rauschen

In opposite to the more gestural writing of recent piano music, the instrument in Ballade.Rauschen presents one long and almost uninterrupted line. The narrative aspect of this focus is obvious, as the linearity evokes concepts such as “storyline” or the German “Lebenslinie” (the course of one’s life). This ever-continuing melody does not remain unaffected by outside forces, though, the strongest of which might be quite drastic accelerations and decelerations that are pushing this Lebenslinie into temporal extremes. Others are the sudden thickening of the melody into hand- or arm-clusters, the gradual changes in loudness, and, referring to the title’s “Rauschen” (noise), a layer of pedaling that transforms the otherwise transparent line into tremendous buildups of resonance – a sonorous violence that seems to wipe out almost all melodical identity whenever it occurs. — Hans Thomalla, Chicago 2024

Recording, mixing, & editing by Ryan Streber. Mastering by Christopher Mercer. Recorded at Oktaven Audio in June 2024. Released on Sideband Records, February 2025.