Best-known for his compositions for the
Kronos String Quartet, Ken Benshoof has also written numerous works for his own instrument, the piano. This 2005 disc from Albany features two sets of his keyboard miniatures, the 24 Preludes (composed according to
Chopin's major/relative minor key scheme) and Patti's Parlour Pieces, all meticulously and sympathetically played by pianist
Lisa Bergman. In style and substance, Benshoof's music is light, humorous, eclectic, and expressively varied, and generally follows a conservative approach in tonality and harmony. However, Benshoof occasionally spices things up with some Ivesian dissonances for ironic effect, and here and there parodies modernist piano music with mildly atonal passages and exaggerated gestural references. Because his music is good-natured in mood and modest in scope, it never seems that Benshoof has an ax to grind with the avant-garde, or that he is posturing as a post-modernist; to the contrary, his music is too witty and elegant to seem arch or adversarial. Yet there are too few challenges or new ideas in this music to attract adventurous listeners, and those who like traditional piano music may find these preludes and character pieces too derivative of the standard repertoire and popular music to take seriously. Albany's sound quality is pleasantly clear and resonant.