On Modes - Anthony Romaniuk (CD)

For his third solo album for Alpha, keyboard polyglot Anthony Romaniuk returns to the piano, exploring the seven modes: derived from the major scale, the basis of ancient Greek music but nowadays endemic in folk, jazz and beyond, each one containing a world of character and mood. Starting with John Adams' Phrygian Gates, Romaniuk devised a programme comprising music by Part, Ligeti, Radiohead and Bjork with his own original compositions; arrangements of traditional Catalan and English/Scottish music and improvisations. Continuing his search for a personal and original sound, Romaniuk uses two pianos, including a Klavins upright grand piano (from the collection of Nils Frahm) which, thanks to it's massive soundboard and 4 metre long bass strings, overwhelms the listener. The addition of various analogue and digital audio effects together with innovative recording techniques brings the listener into a unique sonic landscape, approaching that of a sound-installation.