The more, the merrier 

In the early 1970s, Steve Reich toyed with the idea of writing a piece for all the pianos in a music shop. He eventually refined this ambitious concept into 6 Pianos for – yes – six pianists. This ensures the musicians remain within earshot of one another and prevents the sound from dissolving into a rhythmless mass. Julia Wolfe, this season’s featured composer, also had 526 keys in mind for her 1993 piece my lips from speaking. Drawing on the opening chords of Aretha Franklin’s Think, she stretches that concise material into a fifteen-minute composition. Finally, Gay Guerrilla by the enigmatic Julius Eastman features open instrumentation – so why not six pianos? 

A concert featuring two grand pianos is not unheard of – think of Mozart’s Double Concerto. Three or four grand pianos is more unusual, but six is a first for both Bozar and Piano’s Maene. Fortunately, we can rely on the latter to provide four Steinway D-274 concert grands from their hire fleet, which are identical to the two we already own.  

“Nowhere else in Belgium can you experience six Steinway concert grands sharing the same stage. This will be a real piano feast!” — Wolf Leye, Piano’s Maene 

Get tuning! 

Once the six pianos have been moved into the Henry Le Boeuf Hall – a challenge in itself – it’s time for the most delicate part of the operation: preparing the instruments for performance. “Tuning a piano is more complex than tuning a violin, largely because it has far more strings. Three strings per key in the high register, two in the middle register, and one in the bass,’ explains Wolf Leye. A quick calculation brings us to around 230 strings per piano. Multiply that by six: well, you can do the maths yourself. “All the tuning pins need to be checked. We individually tune each piano to ensure stability.” But that’s not all. The six instruments must be in perfect harmony: “Small variations that might not be an issue in normal circumstances would sound discordant in this context. The six pianos must be identically tuned, which complicates the process.” 

This feat is entrusted to a professional technician from Piano’s Maene. Guillaume Vaudelle, part of their highly skilled team, will spend a full day tuning the instruments. He’d better switch on his pedometer, as he’ll be walking back and forth between the six black grand pianos, arranged in a semicircle. “The technician must possess a combination of skill and speed. The quality of the instruments is one thing, but the quality of the technician is just as important,” concludes Leye. 

Once tuned, Frederik Croene, Saori Oya, Heloisa Amaral, Keiko Shichijo, Reinier van Houdt and Sarah Picavet will each take their place at a piano on 19 May. Do they know how much work has gone into this concert? Perhaps it’s better they don’t – the mere thought of it is stressful enough!  

Piano’s Maene has been a loyal partner of Bozar for many years and shares our passion for music. The company, like the Centre for Fine Arts, builds on a rich history in which tradition and innovation go hand in hand. Would you like to know more about Piano’s Maene and the Steinways? Visit their website here.