Composed for a new "non-tempered" microtonal tuning that Michael Harrison invented, this 90-minute magnum opus is a modern approach to the ancient principles of pure intonation and harmonic resonance. Revelation introduces never-before-heard combinations of modes, harmonies, and acoustical phenomenon that have been praised in The New York Times as "a new harmonic world… generating huge golden balls of vibrant sound," and in Stuart Isacoff’s book Temperament as allowing the performer to seemingly "free an angelic choir above." This performance marked the first time that Revelation was performed by a pianist other than the composer.

• Read detailed program notes by composer Michael Harrison

Joshua Pierce

Joshua Pierce has received numerous Grammy nominations and has performed in prestigious music centers and festivals throughout the world. His extensive career includes performances in recitals, as a soloist and with chamber ensembles, and with an extraordinary array of orchestras including the London Philharmonic, Berlin Radio Symphony, Utah Symphony, San Antonio Symphony, Moscow State Philharmonic, and the State Symphony Orchestra of Russia at Tchaikovsky Hall where he made his debut in 1993. He has recorded nearly 175 works comprising over 40 CD’s including numerous world premieres as a soloist and with orchestras. His 25-year collaboration with the pianist Dorothy Jonas has resulted in numerous acclaimed first recordings and duo-piano performances.

During the course of his career, Joshua Pierce has achieved a reputation as a prolific pianist who has forged his own individual and unique style with a vast repertoire of music spanning all eras of piano literature. His technical mastery has afforded him the ability to move easily from Haydn to Stockhausen.

In the spring of 2003 Pierce became the only pianist, other than the composer Michael Harrison, to perform the magnum opus REVELATION: Music for the Harmonically Tuned Piano, with three world premiere performances of the work’s new scored version at the American Festival of Microtonal Music in New York. With regard to his current collaboration with Harrison, Pierce states "working on Harrison’s magnum opus has been a true ‘revelation,’ both artistically and pianistically. It has had a major impact on my work, recalling a similar experience I had collaborating with John Cage 20 years ago."

Michael Harrison Photo by Henry Grossman

With a modern approach to the ancient principles of pure intonation and harmonic resonance, composer/pianist Michael Harrison creates music that combines elements from Western classical and North Indian traditions, African and Middle Eastern rhythms, and modal jazz. Through his expertise in non-tempered tuning systems and Indian ragas, he has developed "a new harmonic world…" (New York Times, 2001) "…that may well be the path toward music’s future" (Seqeunza21, Stuart Isacoff, May 2003). Harrison’s latest CD, REVELATION: Music for the Harmonically Tuned Piano (2002), was recorded live at Composers Collaborative’s "Solo Flights" Festival at Lincoln Center. Composed for a microtonal tuning that Harrison invented, Revelation introduces "an unexplored universe of sound" (WIRE, June 2003).

For the past 20 years, Harrison has performed his music throughout the United States and Europe. Harrison performed the world premiere of Revelation in July, 2001 at Germany’s prestigious Klavier Festival Ruhr, followed by the U.S. premiere in October, 2001, at Lincoln Center. In February and March of 2002, Harrison was a visiting artist at the American Academy in Rome where he gave the Italian premiere of Revelation and a lecture/demonstration. Harrison has also performed his music in New York City at Symphony Space, Merkin Concert Hall, Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, and CAMI Hall.

Harrison began playing the piano at the age of six, studying both classical and jazz, and went on to study composition at the University of Oregon and Juilliard. In 1979 he started studying North Indian classical singing with one of India's master vocalists, Pandit Pran Nath, and his earliest American disciples, La Monte Young and Terry Riley. Harrison was a disciple of Pran Nath until Nath’s passing in 1996 and continues his studies today with Indian maestro, Ustad Mashkoor Ali Khan. In addition, he teaches and performs concerts of North Indian classical music throughout the United States and in India with Ustad Khan and Terry Riley.

Fascinated with the beautiful resonances created by the overtone-based tuning system used in Indian music, Harrison began imagining music that Western tunings could not achieve and experimented with applying these ancient principals to the piano. In 1980, seeking the guidance of the most innovative composer working with just intonation tunings, he came to New York City to study with avant-garde visionary La Monte Young. Throughout the ensuing decade, he worked closely with Young, preparing all of the specialized tunings and scores for Young’s 6-1/2 hour magnum opus The Well-Tuned Piano. In 1987, at Young’s invitation, Harrison became the only other person besides Young to perform the work, which he did from memory at the Dia Art Foundation for Young’s 30-year retrospective concert series.

• Read an in-depth NewMusicBox interview with Harrison from December 2001