Ferndorf

The Prepared Piano and Room to Expand summed up their purposes in their titles, with the former demonstrating Hauschka's finesse with the prepared piano (a piano with objects placed between its strings or on its dampers and hammers) and the latter, prepared piano expanded with strings and electronics. In its own way, Ferndorf also conveys its purpose with its title; named after Hauschka (aka Volker Bertelmann)'s hometown, this set of pieces goes beyond the cleverness of his previous albums, digging into childhood nostalgia and other more complex emotions while retaining Hauschka's essentially playful approach. Unlike The Prepared Piano and Room to Expand, only about half of Ferndorf's tracks were improvised -- but even these tracks show how much Hauschka's range has expanded. "Blue Bicycle" is as delicately lovely as anything else in Hauschka's repertoire, but there is a unique urgency in its rippling piano that suggests spinning spokes and rushing air; "Neuschnee," on the other hand, has a languid, end-of-the-day calm. Insa Schirmer and Donsa Djember's cellos add richness to "Morgenrot," a piece inspired by the red dawn peeking through Bertelmann's window when he was a boy, and intertwine lazily on "Alma." As good as the improvised tracks are, the composed tracks make Ferndorf some of Hauschka's most accomplished music. "Rode Null" showcases the album's propulsive, percussive sound with Schirmer's driving playing and Sabine Baron's brisk violin. The prepared piano's sounds come to the fore on "Freibad," its metallic rattling underscoring the chilly quality of the strings and Bernhard Voelz's trombone, and on the excellent "Barfuss Durch Gras," melding its rustling with electronics into a taut, sparkling mesh of sound. "Heimat" and "Eltern"'s hesitant beauty exemplify how happily technique and emotion reside together on this album -- though the influences of Michael Nyman, Philip Glass and Steve Reich still loom large in Hauschka's music, Ferndorf's appeal is closest to the work of Bertelmann's FatCat labelmate Max Richter: Richter and Hauschka both have a remarkable talent for honing in on the sweet spot where classical, avant-garde, electronic and pop music meet. ~ Heather Phares