Conlon Nancarrow: Studies for Player Piano, Vol. V (1988)

While Conlon Nancarrow (b. 1912) lived most of his life in complete isolation, not becoming widely known until the 1980s, he is remembered as one of the most original and unusual composers of the 20th century. As one of the first composers to use musical instruments as mechanical machines, making them play far beyond human performance ability, Nancarrow is remembered almost exclusively for the pieces he wrote for the player piano. With their dazzling acrobatic complexities, well beyond the technique of any human, Nancarrow's works are both amazingly beautiful and strangely unsettling, producing music more as symbols than cadential progressions.

Wergo's recordings of Studies for Player Piano series were made in 1988 at Conlon Nancarrow's Mexico City studio, using the composer's own custom-altered 1927 Ampico reproducing piano.
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Nancarrow, Conlon (1912- )
Studies for player piano, vol. V (1988)

1. Study for Player Piano No. 42 (7:32)
2. Study for Player Piano No. 45a (3:16)
3. Study for Player Piano No. 45b (4:46)
4. Study for Player Piano No. 45c (7:09)
5. Study for Player Piano No. 48a (6:39)
6. Study for Player Piano No. 48b (6:29)
7. Study for Player Piano No. 48c (6:39)
8. Study for Player Piano No. 49a (1:54)
9. Study for Player Piano No. 49b (2:46)
10. Study for Player Piano No. 49c (3:25)

Duration : 51:05