Piano Roll - Compositions For Pianola and Reproducing Piano

Compositions For Pianola and Reproducing Piano

The player piano gives the opportunity to create music that is impossible for humans to play, or, more correctly, music that was not conceived in terms of performance by hand. Over one hundred composers wrote music specially for the player piano during the course of the 20th century. Many mainstream composers experimented with its possibilities Igor Stravinsky, Alfredo Casella and Paul Hindemith and others, Conlon Nancarrow, made it their primary millieu.

The Duo-Art, Ampico and Welte-Mignon brands were known as "reproducing" piano rolls, as they could accurately reproduce the touch and dynamics of the artist as well as the notes struck, when played back on capable pianos.