Composer-pianist Jeremy Siskind has written a major new suite for piano: 9 Perpetual Motion Etudes combines jazz harmony with complex pianistic textures, evoking works by Kapustin, Gershwin, Gismonti, Hersch, and Mehldau. 

These etudes are unique in that they can be effective performance pieces for artist-level classical or improvising pianists. A classical pianist can perform the set in about 20 minutes as a set of through-composed miniatures whereas an improvising pianist can follow the directions in the “Optional Improvisation Instructions” to play the etudes as a fuller set lasting about an hour. 

Siskind remarks, “These works capture everything I love about the piano – all of the orchestral and percussive possibilities, the sonic landscapes you can build, and the pure athletic joy of executing big leaps, tough hand crossings, and fast passage work.” 

Editor Spencer Myer praises the etudes for their “unique blend of harmonic colors, emotional journeys, and great technical demands.” And writes that “[Siskind’s] ear for atmosphere makes for what will be an essential and standard set of studies for pianists, both classical and jazz, for years to come.”