AGNel / dANG

Sophie Agnel and Barbara Dang are each, in their own way, tracing out their path in the landscape of improvised music through their highly personal use of the extended piano and their playing on strings. Their first live encounter (2016), however, was through written music, moreover exclusively on the keyboard. They performed Symmetries, a piece by Tom Johnson for piano 4 hands composed in the 1980s.

They are now offering a new musical moment for 4 hands: a fluid transition from the interpretation of very short written compositions (Arvo Part, Morton Feldman, Carla Bley, Mompou) to free improvisation. These compositions appear as a moment of breath, a counterpoint, a reminiscence.
Sophie Agnel and Barbara Dang pool their use of the extended piano and strings, seeking also to question their presence on stage, to nurture playful, unpredictable, intense, spontaneous musical interactions... This is a piano solo with two heads. The proximity of bodies and breath creates a powerful underground bond between them. 4 anonymous arms, 2 heads, 20 fingers, the piano head on. They play piano, with the piano, in the piano, sometimes sitting, sometimes standing, sometimes lying down, like Siamese twins or like Shiva the 4-armed goddess. The piano is a playground, and if you listen carefully, you can see the whole history of the sharing of this instrument, from Mozart’s 4 hands to the duets of the Marx Brothers.