The seven early Studies presented here were arranged by Mikhashoff in consultation with Nancarrow, who it turned out had envisaged fiendishly complex ensemble arrangements from the outset, perhaps performed by mechanical means. That the technology wasn't feasible at the time to make this happen led to the eventual adoption of the player piano as Nancarrow's main mode of expression. The performances here, by Ensemble Modern, are therefore as close as they can be to the instrumentation Nancarrow originally had in mind, and are tons of fun to listen to as they burst into life, like crazed, hyper-polyrhythmic cut-ups of Gershwin or Ives.
Mikhashoff's correspondence with Nancarrow, and his own investigations, also led to the definitive presentations here of some of Nancarrow's lesser known chamber works. The Trio for clarinet, bassoon and piano (1942) was restored to its complete score here; the Piece For Small Orchestra was written as late as 1986, and the Sarabande and Toccata date back to the 1930s. Lastly, Mikhashoff had a bit of a thing for commissioning tango pieces from various composers, so Nancarrow duly obliges. All of it is wonderful, joyously bonkers music from a true original.
pw: sgtg
Conlon Nancarrow at SGTG:
