Peter Friis Johansson

With fervent playing and exceptional technique, Peter Friis Johansson has become established as one of Scandinavia’s most prominent concert pianists. 

He is deeply interested in contemporary music and here, he tackles John Cage’s pioneering Sonatas and Interludes, inspired by Indian philosophy. This incredibly evocative music consists of twenty short pieces, in which the piano is prepared with screws, nuts, erasers, and pieces of plastic stuffed between the strings to alter the sound. 

First, we hear Gävle-born composer Bo Linde’s Six Character Pieces, written around 1952–53, when Linde had just finished studying composition with Lars-Erik Larsson. And unlike today’s modernistic trend, this music is infused with melodic lightness and elegance. American Henry Cowell’s (1897–1965) lush Three Irish Legends has an entirely different quality. To create these massive sounds – usually with an Impressionistic bent – the soloist must occasionally use their forearms.