Pianiste néerlandais adepte des procédés électroniques, Cor Fuhler prépare et utilise son piano à la manière des pionniers comme John Cage ou Alvin Lucier. Grâce à des "e-bows" (électro-aimants) et des petits moteurs rotatifs, il se lance dans une improvisation totale enregistrée en une seule prise, un jour d'août 2006. Stengam est un morceau continu composé d'une superposition de strates sonores calmes et envoûtantes obtenues en stimulant la résonance harmonique des cordes du piano. Cor Fuhler réussit à trouver un équilibre et nous étonne, en utilisant le piano comme seul et unique instrument. Une véritable prouesse où s'entremêlent, bourdonnements, sifflements et phénomènes de résonance sans la présence du moindre traitement électronique.
Outre ses performances en solo, Cor Fuhler joue également en Cortet avec John Butcher, Rhodri Davies & Thomas Lehn, au sein du big band Corkestra ou encore du collectif MIMEO. Il pratique également son art sur EMS synthi AKS, ou sur un instrument de sa propre création, le keyolin, une forme de synthèse entre le violon et le clavichord !
Un voyage inouï dans l'imagination d'un électronicien hors pair !
SoNHoRS l Mai 2007

Cor Fuhler est un manipulateur des sons. Ce pianiste néerlandais, à la carrière bien remplie (il a joué entre autres avec John Zorn, Ikue Mori, Jon Rose, Otomo Yoshihide ou Christian Fennesz et participé à de nombreux projets comme The Corkestra, Palinckx ou Mimeo), a, à l'instar d'un John Cage, pris l'initiative d'explorer les possibilités d'action du piano préparé. En utilisant des électro-aimants et “des petits moteurs rotatifs”, Fuhler nous propose huit pièces improvisées et abstraites dont l'intensité ne fait pas de doute. Les résultats obtenus sont pour le moins fascinants. Occupant pleinement l'espace sonore, Fuhler exploite de la manière la plus appliquée, mais tout autant passionnée, la matière qu'il arrive à extirper de son piano grâce à ses petits dispositifs. Le Néerlandais joue beaucoup sur la clarté des sons et sur une association maitrisée de leurs différences. Il en ressort des ambiances apaisées mais aussi tournées vers une sorte d'expérience introspective forte dans laquelle on s'immerge complètement. Ce qu'il y a de tout à fait appréciable c'est que Fuhler évite les pesanteurs du genre faisant ainsi de Stengam un album parfaitement aérien, libéré de tout cloisonnement et n'hésitant pas à occuper le plus d'espace possible en ne se donnant aucune frontière.
Stengam est de ces albums intrigants qui échappe à tout ce qui pourrait se rapprocher de la “normalité”. Fuhler expérimente, fouille, suit son instinct et arrive ainsi à élaborer des phases sonores qui, prises telles quelles, se suffisent à elles-mêmes. Disque complexe mais réellement beau, Stengam vit de par ses variations et sa capacité à ne jamais rester figé, se renouvellant de manière incessante et installant un rapport très étroit entre la musique réalisée et son auditeur. Il apparait évident qu'il faut s'approprier totalement Stengam sous peine de lâcher prise rapidement. Ce qui serait vraiment dommage car Cor Fuhler parvient à nous emmener dans d'étranges contrées sonores dont on peine à imaginer qu'elles peuvent provenir d'un simple piano. La performance est donc de taille et ce n'est pas son aspect un peu monolithique qui devrait nous faire reculer.
Fabien l Liability Webzine l Avril 2007

Cor Fuhler est un pianiste contemporain, figure essentielle de la nouvelle génération néerlandaise. Il travaille dans le contexte de la scène "jazz" de ce pays dynamique en propositions musicales. On le retrouve ainsi improvisant avec des figures légendaires (Han Bennink) ou responsable de projets ambitieux comme le Corkestra, big band international remarquable (Andy Moor, Tony Buck, Michael Vachter, Nora Mulder…). Il est l'initiateur d'un quartet magnifique, Cortet, où il invite John Butcher, Thomas Lehn et Rhodri Davies. Enfin, c'est un des membres du grand orchestre électronique MIMEO, au sein duquel il combine admirablement les sonorités acoustiques avec un dispositif électronique très original.
Ce musicien nous apporte avec Stengam - je peux supposer qu'il s'agit d'une contraction de Steinway (le piano) et de game (le jeu), mais cela n'engage que moi – son jardin secret. Une seule pièce de quarante trois minutes, réalisée en août en une seule prise. Il s'agit d'une approche personnelle de la préparation du piano, reposant sur l'utilisation exclusive de e-bows (ou archets électroniques ; en réalité électroaimants utilisés par les guitaristes et permettant d'obtenir des sons continus. Ceux-ci sont modifiés afin d'obtenir la puissance nécessaire à la mise en vibration des cordes de piano) et d'aimants divers.
Le résultat est troublant, car on oublie (enfin ?) le piano qui devient un générateur d'une incroyable présence, nous offrant une palette de timbres parfois inouïs.
Cette apparente simplicité mérite toute notre attention.
PS: En réalité, Stengam signifie magnets, inversé. Mais je garde ma version.
Dino l Revue&Corrigée l Mars 2007

Ça monte d’abord en larges faisceaux harmoniques, comme d’un pavillon, porté par une manière de souffle, continu et multiple – oui, ces e-bows que le pianiste pose dans le coffre où il tient ses mains. Etendu, surallongé aux dimensions d’un paysage, l’instrument se mue en harpe frottée à l’archet, infinie (on pense à celle de Davies, précisément dans le Cortet de Cor Fuhler avec Butcher et Lehn : HHHH, _ Unsounds 10), frissonnante : mises en vibration plus que percutées, les cordes elles-mêmes semblent entraîner d’autres corps sonnants, jusqu’à des bouquets, des anneaux, de lentes traçantes hypnotiques, des jeux de textures, d’ondes, en strates scrupuleusement et délicatement superposées.
La préparation de cet « intérieur de piano » n’a rien d’hirsute – on est plus près d’Andrea Neumann que du piano intégral de Nam June Paik ou de Sophie Agnel – et la musique qu’en tire Fuhler, un peu comme celle des immenses barbelés que Jon Rose est allé frotter sur les great fences of Australia, fascine, horizontale, pénétrante et dense. L’audition en est passionnante, très physique, comme osthéophonique et d’une abstraction (qu’on dirait) électroacoustique jamais suffocante, d’une sobriété non pas austère mais sensuelle ; voilà, un art sonore épuré et consistant : la classe!
Guillaume Tarche l Improjazz l Mars 2007

In the last five or so years, Fuhler has been involved in a very wide
range of projects which cumulatively reveal him to be an idiosyncratic
musician of the first rate. I've grown accustomed to hearing him in
gnarly electroacoustic small groups or in his own Corkestra, so I was a
tad surprised to see this solo disc. A prepared piano recital, it's
superb and instantly recognizable. Unlike the frequently quite antic
prepared piano sets heard from other improvisers, Fuhler concentrates
here on music that's highly atmospheric, somber and sepulchral.
Fuhler uses mild preparations (such as super magnets and Ebows inside the piano)
to superb effect, creating the feel of gentle, lolling bells or massive
plangent drones. It's a lovely, at times even bewitching feel that
recalls an Ambarchi/Müller improvisation or something. The sound is
gorgeous, oscillating, and unfolding on Ferrous - a rattling bowl or
something sits on top of string, vibrating crankily in contrast to the
effulgent drone. It's very compelling stuff, almost like listening to
Harry Partch if he was hooked on Eliane Radigue. I find it addictive and
I love the subtle variations Fuhler introduces (with every so often an
incisive pluck or pedal or pointed finger). But the bulk of the album is
given over to the six-part title suite. A marvelous piece that's
immediately arresting, it ranges from deep tuned gongs and cross-cutting
high tones to almost watery or didgeridoo-like sounds to gentle scrapings
and overtones that suggest bowed electric guitars. A fascinating recital
that's one of the year's best solo entries so far.
Jason Bivins l Signal to Noise l June 2007


Best described as a reductionist nocturne, Stengam, a solo piano outing, is more hypnotic than harmonic. Featuring one continuous 20-minute performance, plus two shorter introductory tracks, the CD highlights the talents of Dutch keyboardist Cor Fuhler who uses such stimulators as e-bows and magnets to transform the sound of an acoustic grand piano as if electronic add-ons are altering its function.
Without overdubbing, yet in full control of the instrument's keyboard, strings and soundboard, Fuhler's internal action include buzzy scratches with affiliated resonations so that each string's overtone reflects back on the externally sounded note. Similarly, plucks and slides produce wave-form-like hisses that resonate like tam-tam timbres, prolonged by pedaling. Widely spaced, low-frequency drones vibrate powerfully, but are weighed just so in order not to mask the dynamic cadences or guitar-like resonations above. One standout is Ferrous, which in performance is more buoyant than the title would have you believe. This 12-minute, crepuscule portrait resonates with repeated drum-like textures and fluttering oscillations, yet attains a delicate calm at its climatic finale.
Moving unhurriedly from glistening, strummed arpeggios to sharper, dynamic chords throughout the CD, Fuhler delineates a uniquely constructed, hermitic yet fascinating sound world. Overall, he demonstrates that with proper spatial organization unexpected, sustained tones from inside and outside the piano can be structured to create organic coherence.
Ken Waxman l WholeNote l May 2007

Since John Cage drew attention to (rather than invented) prepared piano in the middle of the last century, it has steadily gained in popularity and acceptance, to the extent that most improvising pianists give it some role in their repertoire and it even makes occasional appearances in popular music.
While many pianists mainly play the keyboard straight, and dabble with using prepared piano and/or playing inside the piano, Cor Fuhler takes prepared piano to another level. Every pianist has their own distinctive ways of preparing their piano; these include using such things as sheets of paper, telephone directories, nuts and bolts, lumps of rubber, paper clips… As this link shows, Fuhler takes the preparation of his piano very seriously—using e-bows, magnets (stengam, geddit?), and home-made gadgets—and the inside of his piano can get quite crowded!
Here, Fuhler only plays prepared piano. Consequently one could listen to this album and, for long periods, not realize that a piano was being used. Yes there are passages where the use of the keyboard is evident—at the start of Stengam part 4, for instance—but otherwise you might believe that this is a small group performing on gamelan instruments, tone generators, percussion and strings with extensive use of electronics, such is the variety of sounds. But, extraordinarily, no overdubs, electronics or electronic improvements were used.
So, leaving aside the means of production, is it any good? Yes, yes, yes! Not only does Fuhler create a fine variety of sounds, he also puts them together in ways that are very listenable and satisfying. Lovers of eai and drones will find plenty here to enjoy. The opening tracks, North-South and Ferrous, are slowly paced and meditative, dominated by sounds like resounding gamelan gongs, on the second track metallic vibrations being overlaid. The remainder of the album consists of the ambitious six-part Stengam. Although each part is fine—at least, engaging, and at best, gripping—there is no obvious overarching unity that makes them into a suite. Maybe that is provided by the methodology, as each employs extensive use of e-bows and magnets, resulting in sustained drones of varying frequencies.
Cor Fuhler has created a series of idiosyncratic and highly individual soundscapes, as convincing a case for prepared piano as you are likely to hear.
John Eyles l All about jazz l April 2007

Cornelis Fuhler is an Amsterdam based improviser who, as a pianist, is comfortable playing swing to John Cage. This recording from 2006 is a solo piano session made with no electronics, no overdubs, and no electronic treatments. With that in mind, he has created a series of sustained tones and notes that are remarkable in both a technical aspect and as a sonic document of sound improvisation.
A true chameleon in the experimental scene, Fuhler has recorded with drummer Han Bennink and bassist Wilbert de Joode. Sonic manipulator Gert-Jan Prins and Fuhler make up The Flirts. He works regularly with the likes of guitarist Keith Rowe, violinist Phil Durrant, cellist Tristan Honsinger, and saxophonists Michael Moore and Tobias Delius.
Forgetting the remarkable premise for this session, Fuhler brings sustained echoey and foggy sounds by utilizing various ebow and super magnets applied to an acoustic grand piano. They create electromagnetic waves that perpetuate a resonance of energy and sound that can only be described as “electric.” The remarkable spatial feeling created is one of deep mediation of machine dreams.
This solo piano recording is unlike any other. In fact, any resemblance between these sounds and that of a piano are quite coincidental. The dreamy states of spinning energy Fuhler concocts are devices simply to muse on the imponderable
Mark Corroto l All about jazz l April 2007

Music by Cor Fuhler has been reviewed before in these pages, but one has to know where to look. Fuhler has been a duo with Gert-Jan Prins under the name of The Flirts, of whom I once saw a brilliant concert, but also improvising with anybody in the Dutch improvisation scene, and beyond, such as with Mimeo. His main instrument is the piano, but "he seeks to take it musically beyond usual perceptions, specializing in sustained sounds with use of various string stimulators: 12 ebows, rotating threads, spinning disks". In addition Fuhler also plays an EMS synthi AKS, as well as building his own instruments, such as a violin with keys: the keyolin. On his new solo CD, he plays an 'acoustic grand piano, using ebows and super magnets. No overdubs, no electronics, no electronic treatment'. Which is something I read on the cover after I heard the CD. Fuhler could have fooled me. I recognized indeed the piano, and yes, there are long sustained overtones, but just as easily I could have thought there was electronic treatment in these subtle walls of droning and sustaining sounds, with sparse interception by the piano itself. So there are none. Wow! Along the lines of Alvin Lucier, but in a much more musical context. Whereas much of Lucier's work stays on the somewhat clinical and conceptual sides of things, Fuhler expands beyond it, and makes great, careful music. It hardly sounds like a disc of improvisation music, as one may expect from this label, but more a disc of composed music. Great stuff.
Frans de Waard l Vital Weekly Earlabs l March 2007

More than many instruments, the piano has a sound, a history and a repertoire that can easily overwhelm a player’s individuality. How many times have you seen someone sit down and put his or her fingers to the keyboard only to hear a generic “piano” sound that turns the music into so much sonic whitewash? One way out of that cul de sac is piano preparation; detune it, retune it, put stuff on the strings either randomly or with careful consideration, and the instrument can’t help but sound different.
Dutchman Cor Fuhler is definitely not a man to take any instrument at face value; in addition to being an accomplished keyboardist, he’s also pursued deep inquiries into non-keyboard-controlled electronics and instrument invention. The imagination he wields in fashioning sound-makers does not desert him when it comes to making sounds, and he’s at the height of his powers throughout this marvelous album.
Ostensibly a solo piano recital, the title tells you want it’s really about. Hint — read backwards. Fuhler uses ebows and magnets throughout Stengam to harness pure resonance. At some points he summons a pure sine wave from a single string, or deploys gamelan-like tolls and clock-like chimes in cautious counterpoint. Fuhler is hardly the only player using these techniques, and he certainly doesn’t wield them as though nifty sounds are enough, although there are moments when they are. What makes this the first great avant album of 2007 is the disciplined and thoughtful way that he puts his novel sounds to use. Fuhler twines and turns his glassy tones as though his piano were an orchestra, albeit one that mainly plays water-filled wineglasses.
A link to what he does with the piano: http://www.euronet.nl/users/fuhler/coralpiano.htm.
Bill Meyer l Dusted Magazine l March 2007

In some ways, and not only because they arrived in close proximity to each other, I find myself thinking of Stengam as a companion piece to Matthieu Saladin’s fine release on l’Innomable, Intervalles. Both are solo efforts, sure, but more to the point, each exercises great restraint in not using the arsenal at their fingertips to overwhelm the listener with effects, preferring a calmer, more circumspect approach to their material. Fuhler uses ebows and super magnets (and presumably less exotic objects) on his piano’s strings hence, I imagine, the title of the disc.
The recording is basically in three parts: two individual works and the six part title suite. North-South, the opening track, immediately (perhaps inevitably) evokes Cage but quickly adds elements that won’t be found in Sonatas and Interludes, including one that sounds like Greg Kelley vibrating a thin sheet of metal with his trumpet. Fuhler excites his instrument in a variety of ways, often playing off the more electronic or drone-oriented sounds presumably generated via ebow with rather percussive, flickering ones of unknown origin. Technical details aside, he constructs wonderfully convincing, carefully observed and spacious sound worlds, gently meandering pathways through his piano’s interior. As with Saladin, though there are almost always numerous events occurring, there’s never any sense of overcrowding, of piling on an effect for the effect’s sake. The second piece, Ferrous, mixes low pulses with skittering high ones that seem set into motion by a rapidly spinning object just barely making contact with the stringboard, these two sandwiching a selection of more liquid sounding elements that leak out the sides.
The Stengam suite is more ambitious and has a tougher job of maintaining cohesiveness over the course of some 23 minutes but by and large succeeds. Several of the “movements” (the third and last couple) are stellar enough on their own to obviate any minor qualms. The first of these begins with some deliciously grainy textures before fanning out into a dense array of drones while still retaining a fluttering undercurrent that keeps things tactile and appropriately dirt-smudged. Two delicious, underwater-sounding sections lead to the fantastic, ringing overtones leading into the finale, a layered set of intense waves that flame out into some handcrafted strokes recalling Partch’s kithara, before welling once again to draw things to a close.
Excellent, creative work, the best I’ve heard from Fuhler.
Brian Olewnick l Bagatellen l February 2007