The second recording from Margaret Leng Tan, the “diva of the avant-garde”, featuring works by three composers whom she specializes in: John Cage (USA), Somei Satoh (Japan) and Ge Gan-ru (China/USA). With Sonic Encounters: The New Piano, she explores the effect of Asian aesthetics on contemporary American composers and the influence of American composers on their Asian counterparts.

The first recordings of two early works by Cage impart a hard-edged brilliance not usually associated with the prepared piano. The serenely mystical works of Hovhaness embody the Eastern influence of continual melodic invention. Crumb’s Five Pieces display an extreme sensitivity to the beauty and expressive power of small units of sound. Satoh’s work is both minimal and lushly romantic, creating a luminous sound of orchestral proportions. Ge Gan-ru, China’s foremost avant-garde composer, uses the piano to produce sonorities influenced by traditional Chinese instruments.

Released 1988.

John Cage (1912-1992): Primitive (1942) 3:06 for prepared piano, first recording; In the Name of the Holocaust (1942) 6:41 for string piano, first recording
Alan Hovhaness (1911-2000): Orbit No. 2, op. 102, no. 2 (1952) 6:03; Jhala, op. 103 (1952) 4:31
George Crumb (b.1929): Five Pieces for Piano (1962) 12:01
Somei Satoh (b.1947): Cosmic Womb (1975) 11:35 for 2 pianos with digital delay
Ge Gan-ru (b.1954): Gu Yue (Ancient Music) (1986) 18:43, written for Margaret Leng Tan, first recording

Margaret Leng Tan, piano