Today is Piano Day, and celebrated Germany composer Nils Frahm is celebrating by releasing a surprise new album called Graz.
Technically, Graz dates all the way back to 2009, recorded on grand piano at Mumuth, the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz, in 2009 as part of the thesis Conversations for Piano and Room. It was the first album recorded by Frahm for Erased Tapes, but it was kept locked away until now.
“A grand piano is a particular kind of beast to play, which will only sound refined and beautiful if you command a strong control over the keyboard,” Frahm said in a statement. “Each slight change in touch results in a different timbre, which will be rewarded when used wisely and will be your trapdoor when you fail to hold the horses. I remember how I had to squeeze the music out of the grand piano in the Graz sessions, and while I enjoy listening to it now, I kept these recordings secret for a good while – they sound like a much younger version of myself to me, and a lot of the musical expressions from that time would be impossible for me to replicate today.”
“Close friends whom I had shared the record with reminded me of it once in a while, and some of the pieces got released in other versions on the [2014] album Spaces in the meantime,” Frham added. “But somehow, any piece of music you create wants to get out there in order to find you, which is why I’m glad to share this beast with you and do hope you enjoy listening to it too!”
Stream Graz below via Bandcamp. Physical editions of the album will be available starting May 21st (pre-order here).
