The Bowed Piano Ensemble

In his music for the “string piano,” Stephen Scott employs a peculiar playing technique that he himself has significantly developed, which unlocks a spectrum of astonishing, mysterious, and almost surreal tonal colours from the piano. These sounds sometimes resemble an accordion orchestra or flutes, horns, clarinets, and even electronic tones, although they are produced entirely acoustically.

Like surgeons working around an operating table, ten (!) players brush, rub, and pluck the undamped strings of the large grand piano with small, soft and hard bows, performing a finely choreographed sequence of movements. This creates harmonically rich and delicately pulsating musical structures: music that is as spectacular to listen to as it is to watch!