''Circus Galop'' is a piece written for

player piano A player piano (also known as a pianola) is a self-playing piano containing a pneumatic or electro-mechanical mechanism, that operates the piano action via programmed music recorded on perforated paper or metallic rolls, with more modern i ...

s by

Marc-André Hamelin Marc-André Hamelin, OC, CQ (born September 5, 1961), is a Canadian virtuoso pianist and composer. Hamelin is recognized worldwide for the originality and technical proficiency of his performances of the classic repertoire. He has received 11 ...

. It was composed between the years 1991 and 1994 and it is dedicated to Beatrix and Jürgen Hocker, piano roll makers. Its duration is approximately 4–5 minutes. Scores of this piece are available through the Sorabji Archive. Piano rolls of this piece are available from Wolfgang Heisig and Jürgen Hocker, who have recorded all three of Hamelin's player piano pieces on the MDG label, which were released in April 2008. This piece is sometimes considered a precursor to

Black MIDI Black MIDI is a music genre consisting of compositions that use MIDI files to create a song or a remix containing a large number of notes. People who make black MIDIs are known as blackers. However, there are no specific criteria of what is cons ...

, due to its impossibility and complexity. ''Circus Galop'' oftentimes has upwards of 15 notes played at the same time, which is way too many for one person to play on a piano. There have been performances of the piece on YouTube using one piano but multiple players responsible for different areas of the piano, creating an apparently seamless performance of the piece.

References

External links

Circus Galop
Hamelin in Stockholm
''Circus Galop''
being played automatically by a restored

. Compositions by Marc-André Hamelin Compositions for two pianos 1994 compositions Galops {{1990s-song-stub