Blog > Title: Hauschka at the Goethe Institute, November 2007

I was just telling a friend of mine about the time my girlfriend and I saw Hauschka at the Goethe Institute in Boston back in 2007.  It was clear from the start that the show was going to be atypical–I mean, we were offered wine and cheese when we first came in.  Volker Bertelmann’s one-man set was a dazzling mix of cascading piano melodies and minimal percussion.  He re-prepared his piano between each song using objects such as wooden wedges, metal foil, and duct tape.

After the show, the 20-or-so attendees all crowded around him and were treated to a totally impromptu question-and answer-session.  Volker told us about his experiences on tour and his methods for preparing the piano.  He told us that he first started preparing his piano because he didn’t want to have to layer a second track to include percussion on his recordings.

He also explained that he had a very difficult time getting people to let him borrow their pianos on tour.  Understandably, most piano owners run screaming from anyone who even mentions the possibility of preparing their piano.  Volker actually carried around a document signed by piano experts that explained that his preparation methods were not at all harmful to the piano.

Here’s a recording I made of his opening song!

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