Radiohead and Elliott Smith for solo piano
Pianist Christopher O'Riley has just released his second album of solo piano transcriptions of Radiohead. He explains why the complicated arena-rock anthems appeal to him:
"Unlike a lot of pop groups that are chord-based—you're chunking away at a very vertical texture and structure—there's a sense of counterpoint in Radiohead's music without being arty about it; it's not like they're trying to make a Bach fugue. Most of the ideas are rather simple and yet the fact that all five of them are contributing something very particular and integral to the structure that suggests to me various ways of fitting that on the piano.
The glockenspiel in "No Surprises" suggests me playing very high up on the keyboard and I'm left with nothing below that except the sound of Thom Yorke's voice, so I've got the thumb of my left hand taking care of him. As pretty as they sound, these are the hardest pieces that I play.
O'Riley performs a classical repertoire, as well:
I've been playing half-classical, half-Radiohead concerts now, most recently Shostakovich preludes and fugues which are rather thorny pieces. And the nice thing about that is as hard as they are to play and to listen to, I can go back and forth from the f-minor prelude and fugue of Shostakovich to "No Surprises" and it's a kind of leavening, a sorbet course to get the audience ready for the next big Shostakovich piece.
O'Riley is now working an album of Elliott Smith pieces. He plays a gorgeous rendition of "Not Half Right" on this
Studio 360 interview.
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