House on Fire, volume 1

4Tay Records is proud to present House on Fire, Volume 1, a marvelous new collection of works for piano, with cello and tabla.

This is the first collection of recordings from pianist-cellist Wells Leng, pianist Andrew Anderson and pianist – table player Richard An during the first year of the trio’s activities as a new music trio. As students under Vicki Ray at the California Institute of the Arts, the three quickly bonded over a shared passion for new music and kicked off House on Fire with a concert in Los Angeles in December 2021.

The album features a premiere by composer Adam Zuckerman [“the receding line in a bruegel sky”] for solo piano, a rarely recorded piece by composer Salvatore Sciarrino [“Melencolia 1”] for piano and cello, and a trio of chorales by composer Eva-Maria Houben [“drei choräle (penser à satie)]. Other selections include an interpretation of the folk tune “My Bonny Boy” by Michael Finnissy, an arrangement of the same tune by Wells Leng for piano and tabla, Kate Moore’s “Spin Bird” and improvs by Wells Leng.

All of the music presented shares common threads; an itinerant sense of time, a contemplative and thoughtful approach to harmony, and minimal materials in their construction. Each piece is composed outwards from a singular idea, focused on the repetition, development, stretching, and performance of that idea alone. Masterfully recorded by Scott Fraser, mixed by Richard An and mastered by Matt Sargent.

House on Fire is a new music ensemble consisting of Wells Leng, Richard An, and Andrew Anderson. Though centered around their shared focus as pianists, each member’s multi-instrumentalism allows for expanded repertoire, including cello, percussion and other keyboards.