MY URBAN PIANO Diary 16
Episode 8: Butterflies (Vienna)
In June I published episode 8 of MY URBAN PIANO, which is dedicated to the city of Vienna. It was not only filmed in Vienna though, but also in Grevenmacher, a nice little city in the East of Luxembourg. Here is an excerpt from the program notes of the premiere:
Für Episode 8, die der Stadt Wien gewidmet ist, hat der Künstler sich eine besondere Zusammenarbeit ausgedacht: er schlägt die Brücke zwischen dem Schmetterlingsgarten in Grevenmacher (Luxemburg) und dem Schmetterlinghaus in Wien. An beiden Orten wurde ein Klavier von Menschen mit intellektueller bzw. körperlicher Beeinträchtigung bemalt und gestaltet. Das Institut St. Joseph übernahm die Gestaltung für das Luxemburger Klavier, während die Lebenshilfe Wien das Klavier in Österreich bemalt und gestaltet hat. Die Komposition „Butterflies“ symbolisiert somit mehr als die wunderbaren Schmetterlinge. Es verweist auf die zeitlose Schönheit und Leichtigkeit der menschlichen Seele, unabhängig ihrer körperlichen und geistigen Fähigkeiten. „Butterflies“ ist sowohl eine Hymne an die Schönheit der Schöpfung als auch an die unantastbare Würde des Menschen.
Translation:
For episode 8, dedicated to the city of Vienna, the artist came up with a special collaboration: he is building a bridge between the butterfly gardens in Grevenmacher (Luxembourg) and Vienna. People with disabilities designed a piano in both places. The ‘Institut St. Joseph’ took over the design of the Luxembourgish piano, whereas the ‘Lebenshilfe Vienna’ painted their piano in Austria. The composition “Butterflies” symbolically stands for more than these beautiful and fascinating creatures. It points to the timeless beauty and ease of the human soul, irrespective of people’s physical and intellectual abilities. “Butterflies” is an anthem dedicated to the beauty of creation as well as to the inviolable dignity of humankind.
Video documentary
To accompany the music video, Francis Verquin produced a very informative and entertaining ‘making of’ video:
From Vienna to Grevenmacher, from butterflies to humans
My initial idea for this episode was to link Vienna to my native country Luxembourg by filming at the famous Schmetterlinghaus in Vienna as well as at the Päiperleksgaart in Grevenmacher and thus making a music video about butterflies, these delightful and fascinating creatures. When I found out at my first meeting in Grevenmacher that the Päiperleksgaart is also a protected working environment for people with mental deficiencies, I immediately had the vision that the pianos (one in Luxembourg, one in Austria) should be designed by them. The piano for my Prague episode (no. 4, River of Love) had already been designed by a group of mentally disabled people who were very fond of their artistic work. I had played a little concert for them at their Institute in October 2017 after the video shoot and was very touched by this encounter.
The Institut St. Joseph immediately agreed to be a part of my project and they informed me that the president of the Lebenshilfe Österreich is a Luxembourgish professor: Univ.-Prof. Dr. Germain Weber, who also teaches at the famous Universität Wien. We got in touch, and Professor Weber connected me to the Lebenshilfe Wien who were also very happy to participate.
During the preparations of the piano I visited the artists in Luxembourg. Once again I was deeply moved by these people. It is said that they are like children, which is true in a way, but they are more, different… They have a unique, very direct way of expressing their feelings. To me they seem to live in the moment and feel emotions (and music) very intensely. It was then that I started to realize that it was wrong to have them paint the piano but not be a part of the actual music video. So I asked them if they were willing to make an appearance in my video, to which both the Luxembourgish and the Austrian group happily agreed.
And thus it happened that a music video which was initially meant to be about butterflies became a video about humans with special needs and unique talents.
From 4/4 to 3/4 — from solo piano to piano and string quartet
Back in 2006 I lived at Stift Heiligenkreuz for about two months. It is a majestic monastery in the heart of the beautiful Viennese Woods. A few years later I also recorded two albums with the monks (see my discography). During my stays there, I spent a lot of time in Vienna (it takes about half an hour to get from the monastery to the capital of Austria) and fell in love with this magnificent city.
I wanted the piece for Vienna not only to be full of beauty and love, but it should also reflect the Wiener Schmäh and the Lebensfreude of the Viennese people. What better way to express this joie de vivre than by composing a waltz, inspired by the tradition of the great Viennese waltzes?
The theme for “Butterflies” had already been written, but not in 3/4 (the rhythm of the waltz). It was a slow ballad in 4/4. By modifying the main melody a little bit, I was able to transform the theme into a waltz, which I introduce as a new part of my piece after the exposition of the main theme (I left the beginning in 4/4 at the beginning unchanged).
But something was missing. I wanted the piece to have a more Viennese sound, maybe by adding a violin to it? So I contacted my friend Matthias Honeck whom I had met many years before at Tonzauber music studio in the basement of the famous Konzerthaus Wien when I was recording one of my solo albums. Matthias immediately agreed to play my music for the Vienna video and told me about his newly founded quartet, the Honeck Quartett. The pieces were slowly coming together.
I had a lot of fun composing Butterflies for piano quintet (piano & string quartet) and finally found exactly the sound that I was looking for. The music single contains both versions, if you are curious to compare them.
The video shooting(s)
In late April we filmed the first scenes at the Päiperleksgaart in Grevenmacher, Luxembourg, with the beautiful Butterflies Piano, together with four of the people who had designed the piano.
In May I flew to Vienna with my crew. First thing after landing, we drove to the studio to record my piece with Matthias Honeck and his string quartet. What a joy this was! We had never played together, and yet, from the first moment, we got along wonderfully, listened to one another and inspired each other. After less than two hours the recording was done.
The next day we visited the house of the Lebenshilfe at Schuhfabrikgasse, where the Vienna group had designed their piano, generously donated by Klavierhaus Rudolf Reisinger. It was an unforgettable morning with the clients and caregivers of the Lebenshilfe, and together we left for the Schmetterlinghaus where our director of photography Lourenço Sassetti shot some magnificent scenes with the clients.
I played on the Vienna Butterfly Piano for the butterflies, the visitors and, of course, for my Lebenshilfe friends. We also filmed at different other locations like the square in front of the Stephansdom and at Resselpark, together with the Honeck Quartett.
I was also very happy to meet Univ.-Prof. Dr. Germain Weber, the president of Lebenshilfe Österreich, in person. We had a very interesting discussion about persons with disabilities:
The premiere(s)
The music video was premiered both in Vienna (photos) and in Grevenmacher (photos). On 8th June, the Luxembourgish Embassy in Vienna (who had been super helpful with the preparations for the video) had organized a concert at the Universität Wien. ORF Seitenblicke also attended the concert and featured it on their program.
A few days later, on 13th June, I played the Luxembourgish premiere at the Maacher Lycée. Both concerts were extremely intense, beautiful and touching. I will never forget the warmth of my audiences in Vienna and Grevenmacher.
Butterflies has been one of the highlights of my career, both from an artistic as well as from a human point of view.
It is my sincere wish for everyone involved in this project that we can and will continue to spread the message of love: people with love in their hearts are beautiful, whatever disabilities they may or may not have. We are all united by the invisible force that shines from deep within. Life can be so beautiful.
The single BUTTERFLIES is available on every streaming and download platform like iTunes, Amazon, Apple Music and Spotify.
Pianist and composer David Ianni from Luxembourg has become well-known for his project MY URBAN PIANO: a series of music videos is produced in different European Capitals of Culture. An original composition is dedicated to each city, performed on an artistically designed piano. Each piano is donated. Join the journey and follow David on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and sign up for his newsletter. Each video plus making of material is published to David’s YouTube channel. For more informations, please visit www.davidianni.com.
