(2014)
Composer Simon Steen-Andersen
Instrumentation Pno solo + 3.3.3.3/4.3.3.1/4perc/arpa/archi/live-elec/video
Category Orchestra
Publication year 2014
Catalogue no. B.0681
Duration 25 minutes
A multimedia reportage of the Piano Concerto can be found on the SWR website.
When I compose within a classical frame I wish to show the tradition in a radically new light. By sacrificing a concert grand I thematise the beauty of the destroyed and the unpolished. I bring the listener inside the ruined instrument to experience sounds which we normally don’t come close to.
Simon Steen-Andersen’s Piano Concerto received widespread recognition winning the special orchestra prize when it was premiered at the music festival Donaueschinger Musiktage in the fall of 2014. The work takes as its starting point the sound- and video recording of a grand piano falling onto a concrete floor from a height of 8 meters. From this Steen-Andersen composes an intricate dialogue between prerecorded audiovisual material and real-time musicians. The result is a spectacular genre-bending multimedia experience.
A multimedia reportage of the Piano Concerto can be found on the SWR website.
The piece received the prestigious Danish Carl Prisen in April 2015.
Review SÜDKURIER 21.10.2014 (DE)
Review Neue Zürcher Zeitung 21.10.2014 (DE)
Review Badische-zeitung.de 21.10.2014 (DE)
Review SEISMOGRAF 28.10.2014 (DK)
Mentioned in Århus Stiftstidende 07.10.2016 (DK)
Review Århus Stiftstidende 08.10.2016 (DK)
Review JCKlassisk 08.10.2016 (DK)
Review Jyllands-Posten 08.10.2016 (DK)
Review Politiken 08.10.2016 (DK)
Download the Piano Concerto Tech Rider as PDF:
SSA · Piano Concerto Tech Rider
MIDI Keyboard:
Preferably a Studiologic numa compact (1st version): http://www.studiologic-music.com/products/numa_compact/.
This is the only model that can currently be used for the piece. (Studiologic numa compact 2 and 2x won’t work.)
Sound:
• 4 ch output from 2 laptops on stage.
• Amplification (2 ch?) piano
• Stereo PA (preferably not floating too high)
• 2 speakers under/next to piano
• Small mixer at a suitable location in the hall for live mixing.
(Normal strategy: match sampler through local speakers with acoustic sound of piano, add a balanced mix if sampler and live pno through PA. If PA speakers are hanging high, we should have centers on the floor).
Monitor for soloist and conductor.
Video:
• 2 signals from laptops on stage:
• 1 going to a large projector for the big (the bigger the better!) screen behind and above the orchestra.
• 1 going to a small projector for the “custom screen” in front of the piano. This projector will in most cases have to stand in the audience space (short-throw lense) but can in some cases also be projected with a “tele” lense from behind/above the audience.
Custom screen:
Custom screen of wood, maybe thick cardboard could work too, cut after mask, painted with a projection friendly white (matte).
Orchestra needs stand lamps. Extra light/profiles for pianist and conductor (pianist and pno need to be lit without spilling light on the custom screen). All lights including stand lamps need to be black-out-able on cue from conductor.
Here also a number of photographs taken at a recent performance in Luxembourg, in which the placement of the keyboard on top of the grand piano; a possible computer set-up; the video screen, loudspeaker, and microphone placements; as well as the percussion set-ups can be seen.
https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/da-dk/#B0CJtdOXmgJfBH
The composer will bring the two laptops (which have the necessary software installed) and soundcards with him.
N.B. For all performances of this work, it is necessary to be in direct contact with the composer. Simon Steen-Andersen must be involved from the beginning in order to plan for his participation in rehearsals and in order to access additional material, such as live mixing equipment, video, software etc. A fee for the composer's participation must be negotiated.
All categories Solo 2-6 Instruments 7+ Instruments Orchestra Music Drama and Stage Music Other
Next to Beside Besides #6b
2006 • Simon Steen-Andersen
Solo
4 minutes
Amplified viola solo
Drownwords
2003 • Simon Steen-Andersen
2-6 Instruments
12 minutes
Guitar and performer
TRIO
2019 • Simon Steen-Andersen
Orchestra
48:30 minutes
Symphony orchestra, big band, and choir
De Profundis (version for Bass Clarinet)
2000 • Simon Steen-Andersen
Solo
12 minutes
Bass clarinet soloist, also playing percussion
Asthma
2017 • Simon Steen-Andersen
Solo
22 minutes
Accordion & video
Inszenierte Nacht
2013 • Simon Steen-Andersen
Music Drama and Stage Music
55 minutes
pno, vlc, trb, trp(+singing), 2 perc, gui
Buenos Aires
2014 • Simon Steen-Andersen
Music Drama and Stage Music
85 minutes
5 singers (SATBB), perc, cl, vlc, gui
Next to Beside Besides #6
2006 • Simon Steen-Andersen
Solo
4 minutes
Amplified violin solo
Next to Beside Besides #2
2005 • Simon Steen-Andersen
Solo
4 minutes
(Any) saxophone solo, amplified
Next to Beside Besides #11
2007 • Simon Steen-Andersen
Solo
4 minutes
Amplified vibraphone solo
Next to Beside Besides #12
2008 • Simon Steen-Andersen
Solo
4 minutes
Amplified accordion solo
Next to Beside Besides #10
2007 • Simon Steen-Andersen
Solo
4 minutes
Miniature video camera solo
Next to Beside Besides #9
2007 • Simon Steen-Andersen
Solo
Amplified double bass solo
Next to Beside Besides #7
2006 • Simon Steen-Andersen
Solo
4 minutes
Amplified piano solo with whammy pedal
Next to Beside Besides #5
2006 • Simon Steen-Andersen
Solo
4 minutes
Amplified piccolo solo
Next to Beside Besides #13
2008 • Simon Steen-Andersen
Solo
4 minutes
Amplified guitar solo
Next to Beside Besides #8
2006 • Simon Steen-Andersen
Solo
4 minutes
Amplified guitar solo
Next to Beside Besides #3
2006 • Simon Steen-Andersen
Solo
4 minutes
Amplified accordion solo
Next to Beside Besides #1
2005 • Simon Steen-Andersen
Solo
Amplified double bass solo
Im Rauschen
2012 • Simon Steen-Andersen
2-6 Instruments
10 minutes
Picc, fl (playable by non-flutist), b cl, with intra-instrumental playback
Next to Beside Besides #4
2006 • Simon Steen-Andersen
Solo
4 minutes
Amplified percussion solo
“if this then that and now what”
2016 • Simon Steen-Andersen
Music Drama and Stage Music
105 minutes
4 actors, 2 trombones, 4 percussionists, and 12 strings
Korpus
2015 • Simon Steen-Andersen
2-6 Instruments
11:30 minutes
7-8 players on 3 Partch instruments
Beside Besides
2003 • Simon Steen-Andersen
Solo
4 minutes
Cello solo
Study for Alto Saxophone and Percussion
1998 • Simon Steen-Andersen
2-6 Instruments
7:30 minutes
Alto saxophone & percussion
Pretty Sound
2008 • Simon Steen-Andersen
Solo
7:30 minutes
Amplified piano solo
Etude No.1
1999 • Simon Steen-Andersen
Solo
1 minutes
Piano Solo
Difficulties Putting it Into Practice (for two musicians)
2007 • Simon Steen-Andersen
2-6 Instruments
12 minutes
2 amplified musicians
Difficulties Putting it Into Practice (for four musicians)
2007 • Simon Steen-Andersen
2-6 Instruments
12 minutes
4 amplified musicians
Mono
2014 • Simon Steen-Andersen
2-6 Instruments
9 minutes
Male vocal, keyboard, electronics
Studies for String Instrument #1, 2, 3
2011 • Simon Steen-Andersen
2-6 Instruments
String instruments
String Quartet no. 2
2012 • Simon Steen-Andersen
2-6 Instruments
14 minutes
String quartet with prepared and amplified bows
Black Box Music
2012 • Simon Steen-Andersen
7+ Instruments
32 minutes
Black box + Bar sax, bass cl, bsn, horn, trp, trb, pno, 3 perc, hp, el-gui, vla, vlc, cb
in-side-out-side-in...
2001 • Simon Steen-Andersen
Solo
10 minutes
Guitar
Besides
2003 • Simon Steen-Andersen
2-6 Instruments
13 minutes
Amplified piano, picc fl and vl + damped string trio
Study for String Instrument #3
2011 • Simon Steen-Andersen
Solo
5 minutes
Cello and video
Study for String Instrument #1
2007 • Simon Steen-Andersen
Solo
7 minutes
String instrument(s) ad lib.
Study for String Instrument #2
2009 • Simon Steen-Andersen
Solo
6 minutes
String instrument(s) ad lib. and whammy pedal
Split Point
2002 • Simon Steen-Andersen
Solo
12 minutes
Solo percussion
History of my Instrument
2011 • Simon Steen-Andersen
Solo
9 minutes
Harp and video playback
Beloved Brother
2008 • Simon Steen-Andersen
Solo
7 minutes
Guitar
On And Off And To And Fro
2008 • Simon Steen-Andersen
2-6 Instruments
15 minutes
Ssax, vibr, cb, 3 players with megaphones
String Quartet
1999 • Simon Steen-Andersen
2-6 Instruments
10 minutes
String quartet
Run Time Error
2009 • Simon Steen-Andersen
Other
Video installation / site-specific performance
De Profundis
2000 • Simon Steen-Andersen
Solo
12 minutes
Soprano saxophone soloist, also playing percussion
Spin-Off
2002 • Simon Steen-Andersen
2-6 Instruments
3 minutes
S-sax, trp, acc, cb
Rerendered
2004 • Simon Steen-Andersen
Solo
10 minutes
Piano solo with two assistants
Amid
2004 • Simon Steen-Andersen
7+ Instruments
10 minutes
fl, cl, perc, pno, gui, vl, vlc
Double Up
2010 • Simon Steen-Andersen
Orchestra
18 minutes
2.2.2.2/2.2.2.0/3 perc/arpa/sampler/archi
In spite of, and maybe even therefore
2007 • Simon Steen-Andersen
2-6 Instruments
9 minutes
Fl, cl, cbsn, cor, perc, pno, cb
Chambered Music
2007 • Simon Steen-Andersen
7+ Instruments
11 minutes
Trb offstage + 1.0.1.0/1.1(picc).0.0/2perc/keyb(sampler)/1.1.1.1.1
Praesens
2001 • Simon Steen-Andersen
7+ Instruments
16:30 minutes
1.0.1.0/1.1.1.0/3 perc/pno/1.1.1.1.1
Ouvertures
2010 • Simon Steen-Andersen
Orchestra
15 minutes
Guzheng solo + 0.2.3.3/4.3.3.0/3 perc/live-electronics (sampler-keyboard)/archi
Amongst
2005 • Simon Steen-Andersen
Orchestra
33 minutes
Amplified guitar solo + 3.0.3.0/4.3.3.0/3perc/pno/archi(as large as possible)