8 of the best piano tracks to test your system
Whether it’s playing ambient, classical, rock or jazz, the piano is a musical mainstay. It can also reveal a system’s true character
We’re struggling to think of a genre, in Western music at least, bereft of the piano’s influence. An easy choice of instrument, then, when it came to picking a focus for this all-encompassing test for any hi-fi system.
SAYS (PLANET EARTH II) NILS FRAHM
Nils Frahm’s soundscapes, architected using an often-unconventional fusion of modern classical and electronic music, are a litmus test for frequency range, space and timing, but most pertinently for how a system knits together electronic and acoustic instruments. We’re also fans of using live recordings as a test of how well a system draws a room.
PIANO CONCERTO NO2 SERGEI RACHMANINOV
You’ll likely have seen these next two coming. The juxtaposition of gushing romanticism and imposing march-like phrases in the ‘Rach 2’ are enough to get any system on its toes. While its beauty will typically shine through regardless, only a system with an impeccable sense of dynamics and organisation will really do it justice.
CLAIR DE LUNE CLAUDE DEBUSSY
Few pieces have been interpreted by so many pianists as this, Debussy’s most famous work, but Alexandre Tharaud’s take – released as a video and digital single as part of this year’s centenary celebrations for the composer – might be the first to incorporate acrobatics. There is a dancing, lilting movement in Tharaud’s performance, undoubtedly affected by this duet of art forms.
THERE’S NO LEAVING NOW THE TALLEST MAN ON EARTH
This is one of those tracks that proves there is more to capturing the piano’s magnificence on record than mere clarity. It deserves a system willing to shine a light on its grainy, honest production. “I wanted a sound that had that brittle quality,” said singer Kristian Matsson, “that feeling it might just fall apart.”
LOOPED KIASMOS
A label-mate and collaborator of Frahm’s, Icelandic multi-instrumentalist Ólafur Arnalds’s ambient, minimalist piano tracks are undeniably enchanting – his score for Broadchurch earned him a BAFTA. But it’s his work with Faroese electronic artist Janus Rasmussen as experimental techno outfit Kiasmos we’re focussing on here. With each instrument recorded acoustically before being treated or looped, there is as much textural detail for your system to dig out as there are pulsing rhythms for it to keep in time.
BLUE MONK THELONIOUS MONK
Thelonious Monk’s improvisational styling really requires a hi-fi with a superior understanding of rhythm and dynamics. With a track such as this, organisation is also key to tying in the saxophone, bass and drum kit – if you don’t feel it, it ain’t right.
LADY GRINNING SOUL DAVID BOWIE
Mike Garson’s performance on this, the final track on David Bowie’s 1973 album Aladdin Sane, is nothing short of masterful. The piano’s interaction with other instruments in the arrangement is a test of detail and organisation, as much as Bowie’s own expansive vocal is for dynamic range.
I’M JIM MORRISON, I’M DEAD MOGWAI
Stuart Braithwaite of Mogwai heralded the value of music in which there’s so much noise it can be difficult to know what’s going on. In hi-fi terms, those dense textures can often mean greater need for detail, dynamics and organisation, allowing you to become fully immersed in the soundscape without being at a loss as to what’s going on.