Can hilary hahn play piano

In its simplicity and calmness, however, the piece unfolds like an underwater saga. Like Hahn, Hauschka is no stranger to the idea of collaboration, whether with more formal outfits like Music A. When it comes to collaborative work, Hahn and Hauschka share a similar philosophy. But I am not a fan of collaborating for the sake of it, or for marketing reasons.

Deutsch Français. Silfra, though, works as a full-bodied entity, something even greater than its parts. Hahn and Hauschka met through the American folk musician Tom Brosseau, whose album Grand Forks features Hahn as a guest performer. Hauschka and Hahn first began talking about going into the recording studio early in Here, too, the process itself was the goal. An ambitious, free-spirited and frequently innovative collection, its genesis goes back over two years, the seeds of the idea first planted by musician Tom Brosseau.

In the building process with Hilary, I felt really pushed forward, and also heard a lot of new aspects to music, but I also felt a personal inner process.

“What Did You Bring to Play for Me Today?”

When they were once again in different parts of the world, their collaboration continued through the exchange of digital music files, to which the recipient would add new improvisations and ideas. Hauschka, meanwhile, has made a name for himself with seven albums since devoted largely to prepared piano performances. They began rehearsing together although these were anything but formal rehearsals in early , discovering, through improvisation, more about their respective musical approaches while beginning to identify and define a shared musical language.

No wonder they both sound so happy. Both Hahn and Hauschka wanted to collaborate on something completely new, a venture into uncharted musical terrain that would nonetheless preserve their individual artistry. That encounter was enough, however, to initiate the chain of events that led to the making of Silfra. Silfra , a project of American violinist Hilary Hahn and German pianist Hauschka, is the result of a collaboration that developed gradually and organically over more than two years.

That is very rare. It was such a rewarding experience making the record that I get a little nostalgic when I hear it. For Hauschka, who creates new sounds and modifies the dynamics of the piano by inserting small pieces of metal, clips, or different kinds of foils into its strings, improvisation is a crucial element of performance. I would have been nuts not to have followed it.

Titles of individual pieces reinforce their auditory associations. Its sepia-tinted nostalgia intrigued her. Hahn, however, sees it less as the result of moving together from these disciplines than the outcome of melding different experiences. Hahn and Hauschka met at the prestigious Greenhouse Studios in Reykjavik, Iceland, in late spring, arriving with no scores, ignoring pieces they had already developed, aiming to create new works entirely through improvisation.

Hilary Hahn - Wikipedia

Brosseau has recorded for the same label as Hauschka, and the two gave a joint U. When Hahn performed a concert in Dusseldorf in October , Brosseau made sure Hauschka would be in the audience. The only exception to this was a single piano line Hauschka had previously sent to Hahn as a trigger for improvisation.

When Hahn joined them onstage for an improvised finale, an idea was born. We found a way of interacting with each other in a way as one instrument.

This collaboration was one of those paths that was wide open in front of me. Their brief meeting after the concert was positive and friendly, although there was no discussion of working together. Both people have to be genuinely interested and curious to explore the working experience, otherwise it founders or becomes forced.

Violinist Hilary Hahn on her two greatest teachers and on the Mozart and Vieuxtemps concertos they taught her.

The title of the album — Silfra — is also a reflection of how the two artists see their work together. For Hahn, improvising has become an important way to arrive at new interpretations of composed works. Silfra is a geographic feature near Reykjavik, where the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates meet. They told no one of their plans, neither their colleagues nor their record companies, in the hope of keeping external pressures from influencing the outcome of their collaboration.

In this they had the valuable and sympathetic assistance of producer Valgeir Sigurðsson, who has worked with artists ranging from Björk to Bonnie Prince Billie.

It may be unexpected, but Silfra might just end up being one of the most original and inventive albums of the year. It feels, the way our work has fallen together, like this has been predetermined somehow and we are along for the ride.