Kyle Gann - Earth-Preserving Chant (2010)

Kyle Gann’s “Earth-Preserving Chant” for solo piano is a piece written in response to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, commissioned by and dedicated to the Italian pianist Emanuele Arciuli. The “Earth-Preserving Chant” functions as a supplication to promote the goal of keeping the environment on Earth friendly to human life. The piece is original and not directly derived from any outside source, but the rhythm is inspired by Gann’s interest in the music of the Hopi, Zuni, and Pueblo indigenous peoples.
Kyle Gann was born in 1955 in Dallas, Texas to a musical family. He studied composition with Ben Johnston, Morton Feldman, and Peter Gena, and gained degrees at the Oberlin Conservatory, Northwestern University, and the University of Texas at Austin. In many of Gann’s compositions, he delved into microtonality, polyrhythms, and polytempi, as well as demonstrated the influence of Native American music. In 1997, Gann taught at Bard College, later becoming the Taylor Hawver and Frances Bortle Hawver Professor of Music.
One of Gann’s greatest achievements came in the form of his writings, having penned thousands of articles and maintaining one of the most widely-read musicology blogs in the world. Via his literature output, he promoted various styles including postminimalism and totalism.
Date: 2010
Dedicatee: Emanuele Arciuli
Performer: Emanuele Arciuli on piano
Note: This channel does not own the score or audio, and they are used for non-commercial purposes. The contents of the video were obtained from the composer’s website.
Composer’s website: kylegann.com/index.html