Piet's Keys by Phil Acimovic published on 2020-07-10T18:47:19Z Piet's Keys is a solo piano work inspired by the artist Piet Mondrian. Mondrian's paintings, with their intensely unadorned spaces, helped me capture a musical austerity I've long searched for. In the piece, I articulate only slow movements and simple musical shapes, peering into similarly unadorned sound spaces that slowly breathe and settle. I use a minimal palette of harmonies, à la Mondrian's limited color and shape palette. The occasional wobbling of notes, a kind of glacial tremolando, most often in thirds in the right hand, is a subtle nod to boogie-woogie, Mondrian's favorite music. During this pandemic I found some relief in writing and playing this piece at home, peering through these quiet windows of sound for a simpler world. I hope this informal recording of me playing on my out of tune piano reflects some of that spirit.
