The One-Armed Pianist

This piece was commissioned by NMC Recordings for its 25th anniversary as part of the London Science Museum’s ‘Objects at an Exhibition’ project. The title refers to an artificial wooden forearm in the museum’s collection of limbs. The middle three fingers are disproportionately small while the rigid thumb and little finger are stretched out. The arm was made for a woman, the stretched hand allowing her to cover an octave on the piano. Wearing this arm, she performed at the Royal Albert Hall in 1906. The piece is in two halves: philosophical acceptance, and the octave played by the wooden arm. Gerald Barry