Did anyone attend???

[Shagdac]

Just wondered if anyone else here happened to attend the Van Cliburn Competition for Outstanding Amateurs this past week in Ft Worth, Tx? It was excellent.

One of the finalists Marisa Haines, started with a piece by American composer Emma Lou Diemers Toccata...which started out with Bartoklike rhythms and energy, but then called on the pianist to reach inside the piano to strum, hit and dampen the strings directly.

I had never seen nor heard of this before. Is this technique of reaching inside used often? Are there many composers who have written this in? Also, how long has this been around? Actually, it was kinda funny, I don't think alot of people had ever seen this, and I heard someone whisper..."What's she doing"...the other said..."I think she must have dropped a pencil inside"! her playing was fabulous, however can't say I enjoyed her reaching inside and strumming the strings....it was very interesting to say the least, just didn't find it very moving.

Any comments?

S

[thomas_williams]

I have never seen this done but I believe it is a fairly common technique in modern music.

Playing directly on the strings

"Prepared piano" (Coins, erasers, etc, etc, are inserted between the strings to produce different sounds)

Both these things are called for by a number of composers in the modern era.

[Bob]

You have to be careful to watch out for the Banshee who lives on the strings of your piano...