Chris P. Thompson: True Stories & Rational Numbers
Grin Agog Music

True Stories & Rational Numbers was written, performed, produced, and mixed by NYC-based Chris P. Thompson, well known in contemporary music circles as a percussionist in Alarm Will Sound and the American Contemporary Music Ensemble. However, one detail in particular demands clarification: he didn't execute the album's nine piano pieces using conventional means; instead, the performances were realized using programming in modern piano roll notation, Thompson's approach an update of the one famously adopted by Conlon Nancarrow in his compositions for player piano. Whereas he chose this method in part because the pieces proved daunting for even the most technically advanced musician, Thompson's pieces could conceivably be performed by a gifted pianist. Regardless, without any pre-awareness of the project's character the listener would naturally presume a human being generated the sounds from a regular keyboard. It wouldn't be inaccurate to describe True Stories & Rational Numbers as electronically programmed music for acoustic pianos.

Another aspect critical to the project has to do with Thompson's choice of just intonation, which naturally lends the music distinguishing character. His discovery of the tuning system, rooted in the natural harmonic series and simple whole number frequency ratios, was revelatory, with the composer characterizing the moment as if music were being heard anew. The listener well-acquainted with just intonation will hear the album as a sonorous re-engagement with a rarely used system; someone coming to it afresh will be initially jarred but then captivated by the music's unusual pitches and harmonies. At times, the pianos multiply, such that an arrangement sounds as if it's featuring anywhere from two to four pianos. Certainly one key advantage electronic programming offers is that it allows for fixed pitches to be easily left behind.

While the album isn't programmatic, its nine movements are suggestively titled. Thompson drew for inspiration from the lives of German scientist Hermann von Helmholtz and his wife Anna, with the writing of the pieces influenced by his book On the Sensations of Tone and, according to the composer, designed to render in sound “a timeline of physical sensations, scientific discoveries, and emotional struggles” (another key inspiration was American composer Ben Johnston, whose notation system Thompson used for his score). Yet while such details make clear who's referenced in “Professor H” and “Anna,” True Stories & Rational Numbers functions perfectly well on purely musical grounds. Rather than attempt to decode the significance of a title such as “Nine Past,” the listener might be better to experience the material on non-programmatic terms and appreciate it for the rewarding musical creation it is.

Heard this way, “Professor H” accentuates the academic's playful side when its patterns intermingle devilishly; Thompson's percussion persona resonates through “Sirens,” “Splitting,” and “Fractionally-Souled Beasts” in their enticing rhythmic swing, with notes communing together in stuttering arrays. The pace slows for the nostalgic reverie “Five 'Til,” the ruminative tone calling to mind, surprisingly, Bill Evans before the piece expands into a dazzling contrapuntal exercise. “Anna” demonstrates that music created using just intonation can be as heartfelt as music written in standard tuning. Notes dance acrobatically through the pieces as Thompson explores intersections of rhythm, harmony, melody, and counterpoint to arresting effect.

January 2021