Autumn Airs

I visited the piano on an unseasonably warm fall day with Julian, a recent Brown graduate ('19) and a cellist, pianist, and conductor. "Wow, this is crazy! This is so cool!" he exclaimed, seeing the piano for the first time. As he sat down and started to play, a breeze blew through the tree branches above us and a shower of needles came raining down, sliding down the lid and across the keys. The changing seasons is visible in the piano - leaves, maple seeds, and hemlock needles collect in the cracks along the lid and between the keys, and some have even drifted inside the piano.

Julian alternated between keyboard and strings, exploring the wide array of timbres: muted and resonant, rattling and buzzy, warped and clunky. "It's actually really hard to play," Julian reflected. "You can't predict which keys will stick and which will pop back up. Once you play a key, you don't know if you'll be able to play it again or if you'll have to pull it back up."

Days in place: 253

Weather: warm and sunny, clear skies, 70°F