Empty by Nils Frahm

To mark this year’s Piano Day and as an acknowledgement to these unprecedented circumstances we find ourselves in, Nils Frahm surprised the world with a collection of eight solo piano pieces, titled Empty, made available digitally on March 28.

Conceived of just before Nils broke his thumb and composed the similarly intimate solo piano album Screws, Empty is a soothing vessel of eight simple and serene pieces originally recorded as the music to a short art film he shot with his friend and film director Benoit Toulemonde. Drifting through emotions from the stark and sobering opener First Defeat, to the gently euphoric No Step On Wing and the contemplative but hopeful closer Black Notes, with its poignant minute of silence, Empty is a comforting score for these turbulent times.

“When I came back from the hospital with a broken thumb and listened to the recordings, I felt they were unfinished. I decided to put them aside and started to work on my small album, Screws.

Many many other notes of the piano have been struck since these days, and before we all forget about this, I thought it would be a good moment to share these lullabies with you. I hope they help you stay all strong and calm in these days of solitude – despite the hardship, we can discover introspection and reflection unexpectedly. Who knows what it is good for.

Much love, Nils”

About Piano Day:

“Why does the world need a Piano Day? For many reasons. But mostly, because it doesn’t hurt to celebrate the piano and everything around it: performers, composers, piano builders, tuners, movers and most important, the listener.” – Nils Frahm

Piano Day is an annual event conceived of five years ago by the composer, producer and pianist Nils Frahm. It takes place on the 88th day of the year on March 28, 2020 – the number of keys on the piano. Over the past five years Piano Day has grown into a global phenomenon, celebrated in countries all over the world by artists and audiences alike.

The desire to celebrate this versatile instrument is growing greater than ever with more than 100 piano-related events planned this year around the world. But due to the current situation with regard to the coronavirus pandemic, Piano Day encourages all the piano lovers, organisers and promoters to cancel their events to put everyone’s health and safety first.

A list of all originally planned Piano Day events is available on the official site. As this is changing day-to-day, please check each event you are interested in to see if it is cancelled, postponed or shared via livestream.

Berlin-based contemporary composer Nils Frahm has built a steady reputation for his intimate, poignant piano recordings, yet they so far only showed a fragment of what to expect from a Nils Frahm concert. Frahm’s heart lies in improvisation, in the magic of a moment where, inspired by the space and the audience, his fingers can create new compositions loosely based around his familiar melodies

nilsfrahm.com
SoundCloud
Twitter