The music of Austrian composer Bernhard Lang (b. 1957) is one of in- betweens. Stylistically, Lang’s oeuvre occupies the space between a multitude of genres, ranging from contemporary composition and free improvisation to the wider realms of hip hop and DJ- culture. This, his latest, portrait album combines some of his piano pieces, performed by German pianist Wolfram Oettl. The centerpiece of the recording is Monadologie V: Seven Last Words of Hasan, a re-writing of Joseph Haydn’s Die Sieben letzten Worte unseres Erlösers am Kreuze, which creates an inspiring link from the 18th to the 21st century.

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Recording: 30 June – 2 July 2020, Studio der Musikfabrik Köln, Germany. Piano: Steinway D (serial no 440490).