Carlos Cipa X PH Pianos
In early fall of 2021, we invited Carlos Cipa, the Munich-based composer and pianist, to visit the PH Pianos showroom in the heart of Copenhagen, to create some new music.
With over 500,000 monthly listens on each of the major streaming platforms, Cipa is a well-known pianist/composer who plays masterworks and creates and performs his own interesting and cinematic compositions.
Carlos accepted our offer and together with his videographer, sound engineer, and manager, he made the trip to our showroom in early Fall 2021. After two days, the intensive weekend wrapped and Carlos reported that he had made four newly composed tracks that he would be releasing this fall on his label.
Represented by Artifier management and distributed by Warner Classics, Carlos has created an impressive body of music and enthusiastic supporters all over the world. Despite this international high status, both his approach and persona are understated and curious, and he is very gracious and open.
Origin Story
Studying the piano was part of growing up for Cipa. He studied classical piano masterworks from age 6 until about 16, and then moved on to playing drums for a punk band! As Carlos explained, “playing in that band was my first opportunity to experience the process of writing music for my own performance,” and a first for “being on stage, creating an original sound.” That sense of creating something new was a completely different experience from performing well-known works by composers from the past. “It was this experience of intuitively playing,” Cipa continued, “of finding a way to express myself, that was really captivating.”
With a confirmed interest in exploring his own musical ideas professionally, Cipa enrolled in a university composition degree in Munich, but left the program in order to have the freedom to pursue his projects. After self-producing his first album, he worked his way into representation on respected labels, and today composes and performs full-time.
Interplay: Composer and Instrument
For Cipa, creating music is not just about the notes- but about the physical space and the instrument as well. One of his earlier projects, Correlations, highlighted the unique sound palettes of 11 different pianos- and so it was an intriguing idea to explore the instruments designed by Poul Henningsen at PH Pianos.
Thus, the three instruments Carlos chose to record with at our showroom were selected not just for variety, but as compositional elements themselves.
“Usually when I go into a session, I have the pieces about 70% formed. Then, I need to respond to the space and the instrument,” Cipa explains when asked about his compositional process. After tuning himself to the pianos’ characters, he can finish crafting the piece in a combination of improvisatory elements and predetermined ideas. After that work, it generally requires 3 or 4 recorded takes to capture the concept that he is happy with.
Redesigned: the EP
Around the time we invited Carlos to make this project together with us, Cipa explains he “was practicing a lot of classical music for other projects, and knew I would be coming to your space to work with the PH Pianos.”
Cipa’s project at PH Pianos, called ‘Redesigned’, is comprised of four pieces inspired by and composed around four well-known piano compositions from master composers of the past—although not necessarily taking a direct quotation from the music.
“The left hand (bass) melody can be the source of the new composition, or chord progressions extracted and recomposed… even a rhythmic motive can be the basis for a new piece.”
Sonata Fragment (Beethoven redesigned)
The first piece of the release is loosely based on a fragment from the opening of Beethoven’s Op. 109 sonata. In this piece, Cipa has extracted the opening melody, transposed it into a different key, and expanded the shape into a gentle contemplation. He has redesigned the melody into a (vulnerable) tendril which expands through the range of the instrument. It’s a lovely, inviting meditation for the listener.
“Each piano has a different timbre and character,” Carlos responded, “and that colors the composition. I brought each piece mostly formed to the recording session, knowing that the voice of the instrument itself would shape the music somewhat.”
“After a few hours trying all of the instruments, I had a good sense of which piano best suited each of the pieces I wanted to capture.”
Pagoda (Debussy redesigned)
Cipa’s composition draws on two fragments of melodies found in Debussy’s original piece called “Pagodes”, expanding them to become the main melodies of the piece. Opening with the same chordal structure of the original, the melodies are set with interesting cross-rhythms and he creates a lovely, intricate and sparkling texture.
Carlos chose to perform this piece on the PH Bow Grand Piano. Cipa explains: “The PH Bow Grand has a warm sound and a brilliance to its tone, which lent itself so well to the colorful textures I wanted for Pagoda.”
Andantino: Schubert
“I was preparing Schubert’s original for a Turkish movie which I played the soundtrack for,” Cipa says by way of introduction. The melody and rhythmic material became the basis for his redesign.
“I often feel that classically pianists are very ‘interpretive’ when it comes to polyrhythms”
(Polyrhythms are combinations of two or more rhythmic ‘layers’ simultaneously happening—sometimes contrasting and at other times, aligning).
“Often classical pianists interpret polyrhythmic material in an emotional way, stretching out the patterns for expressive reasons… but that distorts the effect. In my own music I like to keep the polyrhythms very clear, as I find real beauty in their exact presentation.”
Affettuoso: Handel
Cipa chose to use a lovely violin sonata as the source material for this piece. “It has a wonderful Baroque flavor, but you cannot guess specifically what it is.”
After listening to recordings of the great violinist Jascha Heifetz and his pianist, Emmanuel Bay, Cipa was inspired by the very soft and beautiful playing of Bay. This piece is light and transparent, and Cipa takes fragments of the accompaniment and reworks them into the complete texture of this piece.
Performed on a vintage PH Grand Piano from the 1930s, the music has space to expand and become nourishment for the listener.