Charlemagne Palestine – From Etudes To Cataclysms For The Doppio Borgato
After the epiphany of An Aural Symbiotic Mystery by Charlemagne Palestine and Tony Conrad this is the first solo work by Charlemagne on Sub Rosa. An impressive composition of more than 140 minutes based on a unique instrument – a double piano on which one keyboard is played by the feet.
”Several years ago Martin Kaufmann of Kaufmann Pianos in Brussels told me he had seen and heard an amazing and unique instrument in Italy – A piano with 2 separate bodies! One with a normal grand piano body having 88 notes to be played with the fingers, and below this piano was a second piano also with a grand piano body which could play simultaneously the lower 37 notes of a grand piano with pedals for the feet.
Having known my music for years and that I had been a carilloneur where one plays with both fists and feet simultaneously Martin Kaufmann thought that the Borgato would be perfect for my music. The inventor of this unique instrument was Luigi Borgato from Padua who developed this instrument with his wife Paola I was intrigued and through an intermediary, the Italian pianist Roberto Posseda visited the Borgatos in Lonigo where they have their workshop and found that their instrument was perfect for my body and my music. We immediately decided to organise recording sessions in a local church for one week and “From Etudes to Cataclysms” is the result!” – Charlemagne Palestine, October 2007.
