Carson Cooman * Almanack Pianistico [New CD]

Almanack (2017) is a collection of 76 varied pieces suitable for performance on keyboard instruments. Although piano is perhaps the most obvious (and ubiquitous) choice, many are also suitable for organ, harpsichord, clavichord, or other possibilities, even including harp or keyboard percussion. This album is a selection of 37 pieces drawn from the book, performed on the piano.The inspirations and connections behind this volume of keyboard pieces are diverse, ranging from the hymnody of the American Shakers to the experimental mostly European Wandelweiser collective. Other conceptual influences include the largely non-rhetorical, post-Cardew pieces of 1970s English experimental keyboard music, especially the remarkable work of Howard Skempton. Other pieces draw on elements of early keyboard music from the pre-baroque era.All of the pieces in this collection offer a variety of possible interpretations, and many involve flexible performance options. These recorded performances should not be seen in any way as prescriptive or binding for those who have the score and are playing the pieces for themselves.