Hauschka - Ferndorf

Hauschka’s work previous to this album focused primarily on the idea of the prepaired piano, a sort of avant guard approach to reinventing the sounds and capabilities of a piano and while his previous album is wonderful in its own right, his newest effort here has taken his ideas and compositions a step up and beyond by including a string duo and other instrumentation. Hauschka is masterminded by german composer Volker Bertelmann who has studied classical piano for around ten years and this music project is his exploration into the ideas of using the prepared piano. This album specifically was written as a way to put into musical terms his experiences as a child growing up in a small village and his memory of being outside so much when he was young. The title of the album, Ferndorf, is a word that translates to mean ‘distant village’ and upon hearing the album and knowing this I find it easy to understand this parallel of music, nature, and a sense of home that he has created. The music centers itself on the percussive sounds that exist within the prepared piano’s sound but it fully realized with the addition of the warmth that the strings provide. It’s a beautiful album through and through and I highly recommend you give it a listen. Below you will find part one of a video trilogy created for music on the album and it was this video that immediately drew me in as it is a perfect visual representation of the feeling hiding within the music.

iTunes Link • Artist Page

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