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Blank Forms release first vinyl pressing of Maryanne Amacher composition

The 1991 piano piece Petra was performed by Marianne Schroeder and Stefan Tcherepnin in 2017

Blank Forms Editions have released Marianne Schroeder and Stefan Tcherepnin's 2017 interpretation of Maryanne Amacher's 1991 piano piece Petra. The pioneering composer and installation artist had been suspicious of CD and recording technologies during her career. Opting instead for live performance, much of her work was never recorded for commercial release.

Following Sound Characters (Making The Third Ear) and Sound Characters 2 (Making Sonic Spaces) released on Tzadik in 1999 and 2008 respectively, and a inclusion in the OHM: The Early Gurus Of Electronic Music (1948-1980) compilation, Petra marks Amacher's first commercially available instrumental work and the first time one of her compositions has been put to vinyl. The work was originally commissioned for the ISCM World Music Days in Boswil, Switzerland, and is a durational piece written for two pianos and inspired by a church in the area and Greg Bear's science fiction writings. The version featured on this release was recorded in 2017 at New York St Peter’s Episcopal Church with pianists Stefan Tcherepnin and Marianne Schroeder, the latter of which had already performed Petra in 1991 alongside Amacher herself.

Earlier this month we announced a three day event, Maryanne Amacher: Perceptual Geographies, taking place in Philadelphia in April.

Petra is released by Blank Forms on 12 April.