Trimpin's Klavier Nonette installation comprises nine toy pianos under MIDI control. In 2003, Seattle's Jack Straw Foundation Gallery hosted the Nonette and put out a call for compositions to be installed there and selected by visitors via coin-op mechanism. This fun piece, developed from a springy riff I jotted down as an undergraduate and featuring some superhuman hocketing patterns, just fit inside the two-minute length limit.
Quilcene is the name of a town in Washington State, a state that is gifted with many quirkily charismatic place names. "Terpsichore" (besides being the name of the Muse of Dance) is the title of a set of dances written/collected by the 17th-century composer Michael Praetorius.
The original recording was made with an ambisonic setup to capture the full-surround effect of the nine pianos distributed in the room. Unfortunately we don't get to hear the arpeggios careening around the room in this stereo mixdown. |
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| A recording of the 24 works selected for the Toy Piano Nonette installation was published by the Jack Straw Foundation, though it now appears to be no longer available. |
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