Japanese pianist Maiko Mori's new album of modern Etudes for piano blends elements of classical, jazz, rock, and techno idioms. A study in diversity, Mori's album preserves the foundations of traditional classical music, whilst weaving in musical elements from different backgrounds, styles and regions. The new album features music by four prominent contemporary composers with cross-over elements: Nikolai Kapustin's Eight Concert Etudes fuses classical piano tradition with jazz idioms; Japan's well-known gaming composer (best known for his work on Final Fantasy X), Masashi Hamauzu's rare classical work Etudes Op.4 combines impressionistic ideas with rhythmic and sometimes melancholic gaming music elements; Melanie Spanswick's etude, Chasm, written for Maiko Mori in 2019 reflects minimalist influences with a variety of fragments from different musical languages. Finally, prominent Japanese composer Karen Tanaka's Techno Etudes takes us to a dazzling, addictive world of techno, speed and rhythm.
