beautiful solo piano (inna 20th cent. stylee) s/d

If you like Part, you'll LOOOOOVE Giacinto Scelsi!

also, though I can't imagine anyone will be able to guess (because of my bad memory and lack of theory skills), there is a piece that has been haunting me forever. it is solo piano. it has a vaguely middle eastern flavor. the very beginning is six eighth notes. each pair has its own note. the first two are high, the second two are low, and the third two are in the middle (within the same scale I think). if the first two pairs are white keys, then the middle are played on the black... that is the best I can do.

I would recommend György Ligeti - Works for Piano. He is a Hungarian composer and most famous for being used for 2001 (and other Kubrick films).

His piano compositions are amazing. Some people hear an eastern influence in Ligeti, they explain this by his background, but I think that is overshadowed by his unique and stunning juxtaposition of tempos and timbres. It can be heavy stuff, but it is also completely lively and compulsive. A comparison with compatriot Franz Liszt is not unfair - they both resonate with rock n roll vitality, and are the complete antithesis of the newage wallpaper and psuedo-religious histrionics of much modern music.

As you haven't specified post-1945, you should definitely check out Debussy's 'Preludes' for piano (esp. Book I, altho' II is also good).

And Satie of course.

I've just got the complete organ works (6 CD boxset - a snip at 22 quid) - amazing stuff.

"Do you know how to clean sounds? It's a filthy business. Stretching them out is cleaner; indexing them is a meticulous task and needs good eyesight. Here, we are in the realm of phonotechnique.

On the question of sound explosions, which can often be so unpleasant, some cotton wool in the ears can deaden their effect quite satisfactorily. Here, we are in the realm of psychopyry. "
-satie

http://williamddrake.bandcamp.com/album/yews-paw

this is absolutely, ridiculously good

Robert Haigh, maybe? Would recommend 'Anonymous Lights' as a starting point. Owes an obvious debt to Satie but has very much his own personality. His earlier solo piano work is more angular/strident.

I liked Michael Nyman playing solo piano in that terrible '9 Songs' movie...any suggestions for Nyman solo piano recordings?

The Nyman pcs in 9 Songs were borrowed from his score to an earlier winterbottom movie, Wonderland. That sdtrk is highly recommended. Ineffably beautiful in his later non-stomping mode. Also in that vein: seek The Claim.

He also self released a disc of himself playing solo versions of his stuff called The Piano Speaks.

been meaning to check out rob haigh's piano stuff for time

as well you should. and also check out Vikki Jackman.

If we expand to 21st century stylee, Goznales would be an obvious suggestion

Gonzales, even

Micheal Jon Fink also good

http://www.popsike.com/pix/20090904/230374489736.jpg
http://rootstrata.com/rootblog/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/jordan-de-la-sierra.jpeg
http://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JPG_400/MI0000/991/MI0000991215.jpg?partner=allrovi.com
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1369/4600986509_e3c85001b4.jpg

Revive!

listening to a lot of Budd as well as Feldman's "For Bunita Marcus," and have also been enjoying this record from the rolling classical thread (https://sonoluminuslabel.bandcamp.com/album/northscapes) and also some of the stuff here— the Jordan de la Sierra record is incredible.

What are some others that you're into right now?

Highly recommend Hall of Mirrors, the new album by Neil Cowley. He's had a fairly successful career with his jazz trio but has now taken a left turn into fairly ambient minimalism. It's a gorgeous record.

I like this by Hantrax: https://eksterlabel.bandcamp.com/album/gazebo-compositions

fav track: “oh dear”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9jaC5BbbSk

Here's a taste of the Neil Cowley, and I realize now it's not actually solo piano. Still great though.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efnX0MZRNTE

I like the Cowley, tho yeah, not solo piano.

That one orders the vinyl of the Hantrax through bandcamp but one has to order digital files through iTunes, which I won't do, is fucking ludicrous. Too bad, they lost a customer.

Pretty sure I heard about it on here somewhere, but the Leo Svirsky record from 2019 is lovely:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCp7A9f1zu0

Liking the Jokubaviciute very much.

has hans otte been mentioned here? this record is unbelievable: https://beaconsound.bandcamp.com/album/the-book-of-sounds

aero turned me on to this years ago and I listen to it all the time

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-YKjiBsiow

And I LOVE this record

... https://jadjemian.bandcamp.com/album/adequacies

ten from the last ten years (or thereabouts), all variously adjacent to "minimalist", post-Cagean compositional trends (links where available)

Dennis Johnson – November
Terry Jennings / John Tilbury ‎– Lost Daylight
Melaine Dalibert – Infinite Ascent
Eva-Maria Houben – Works For Piano
Jürg Frey – Circles And Landscapes
Martin Arnold – Points and Waltzes
Bryn Harrison – Vessels
Christian Wolff / Philip Thomas – Pianist: Pieces
Tim Parkinson – Piano Piece - Piano Piece
Laurence Crane – 20th Century Music - Solo Piano Pieces 1985-1999

(apologies for title capitalisation errors, I was c&p-ing from discogs)

Glad people like Northscapes. It's one of the albums that has grabbed me most from this year.

if we're talking solo piano albums from 2021, bruno duplant's l'infini des possibles is one of the more beautiful things I've heard all year (though judging by the rolling classical threads i get the impression that contemporary wandelweiser type stuff isn't much appreciated here)

https://elsewheremusic.bandcamp.com/album/bruno-duplant-linfini-des-possibles

Listening to that Hans Otte record for the first time and it's really really nice

(after hearing it mentioned in an interview with Dustin O'Halloran)

man, i love that otte record

A few things to add here since the last time I popped in:

there's this record by Saloli, which is just really beautiful and calming and a bit romantic.
Saloli- The Island: Music for Piano Vol. 1
https://saloli.bandcamp.com/album/the-island-music-for-piano-vol-i

and I also think that this might have made my best of 2021 list had I heard it before the last week of December and spent more time with it. It's really lovely solo piano that's then been arranged and looped by the player. Perhaps not "pure" solo piano, but I think it counts, and it's a remarkable record, I think.
kafari- Blanket of Black
https://kafarimusic.bandcamp.com/album/blanket-of-black

Nice new tape from Séance Centre, the Guadeloupian pianist Allan Gilbert Balon.

https://allangilbertbalon.bandcamp.com/album/so-lo-piano-works-vol-1

Saw Neil Cowley last night. Concert hall venue, just him, two keyboards, a modular synth, a Steinway and a bunch of tellies, broadcasting static. He was really good company and it was just what I needed.

William Duckworth - The Time Curve Preludes

Saw Neil Cowley last night. Concert hall venue, just him, two keyboards, a modular synth, a Steinway and a bunch of tellies, broadcasting static. He was really good company and it was just what I needed.

William Duckworth - The Time Curve Preludes

https://michaelharrison.bandcamp.com/album/revelation

Michael Harrison, anybody? Really nice just intonation stuff. Maybe I heard about him on this board?

sounding perfect this morning

answers the question 'what if beautiful solo piano (inna 20th cent. stylee) was in just intonation?'
i like it

That album is a classic

I like the pieces that are in alternate keys than the base note of the just tuning, gorgeous stuff

this one is niiiice https://bruce-brubaker.bandcamp.com/album/eno-piano

There's also this from 2000: https://www.discogs.com/master/876299-Arturo-Stàlteri-From-The-Music-Of-Brian-Eno-CoolAugustMoon – which I think is mostly piano versions with string embellishments?

Oops! Here's the link, maybe that won't break.