Meredith Monk – Piano Songs – Brubaker

   in Piano International (Sep, 2014)
Meredith Monk is famous for her innovative vocal works, but she studied piano as a child and has continued to write short pieces for both one and two pianos. This selection, dating from the 1970s through to the 2000s, also includes a few of her other works arranged here for two pianos by Bruce Brubaker. While the influence of her early favourites (Mompou, Satie, Bartók) may sometimes peek through, together with a dab of decorative free jazz in the sudden splatters of notes that colour Paris and Phantom Waltz, Monk’s music is more often grounded in minimalism’s repeating rhythmic phrases, albeit hers are of an especially tuneful and intricate variety, best …