ABOUT THE COMPOSITION

88 Keys, composed in 2004 by Carl Schroeder, is an 88-tone row for solo piano which utilizes each of the piano's 88 keys exactly once. The approximate performance time is one minute and fifteen seconds. 88 Keys was published by European American Music in volume 39 of the SCI (Society of Composers, Inc.) Journal of Music Scores.

Sheet music for 88 Keys is available as part of the sheet music book 88 Keys: Piano Music by Carl Schroeder.

ABOUT THE COMPOSER

Carl Schroeder of Minneapolis, Minnesota, composes music for concert band, orchestra, choir, chamber ensembles and solo piano that often draws inspiration from American history, current events, natural surroundings and memories. His large ensemble music has been performed by more than 40 concert bands, orchestras and choirs, including the Air Force Band of Mid-America, Minnesota Youth Symphonies and Chamber Choir Kyiv. He has written works on commissions from the Minnesota Symphonic Winds, Minnesota State Band, Cornell University Symphonic Band, Southwest Wind Ensemble, Calhoun-Isles Community Band, Wells Fargo Chorus and other ensembles and individuals. His music is featured on five CD recordings, his choral work Two December Carols is published by Boosey & Hawkes, and his concert band work Spin is published by C. Alan Publications.

Schroeder is a 2005 graduate of St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota, where he studied composition primarily with Timothy Mahr and Peter Hamlin. In 2001, he was named "Composer with Most Potential" by the Minnesota Music Educators Association, and in 2004 he was one of three under-25 American composers chosen to participate in the National Band Association’s Young Composer Mentor Project, where he took lessons with composers Mark Camphouse, Donald Grantham and Dana Wilson. He composed 88 Keys in 2004.

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MORE ON 88 KEYS

A NOTE FROM THE COMPOSER
In 2004, during my junior year at St. Olaf College, I was writing a research paper that involved 12-tone rows (the musical term for a line of all 12 pitches in the chromatic scale with no repeats). I needed a break and went to the music building to improvise on a practice-room piano when an idea struck: What if I took the 12-tone concept to the extreme and wrote an "88-tone row" that used all 88 piano keys once, without any repeats? So instead of writing the paper, I spent the rest of the day on the idea. First I wrote the beginning (all the "C"s from bottom to top) and then the ending, so the end of the piece wouldn't sound like a bunch of random "leftover" pitches. And then I wrote everything in between.

I premiered 88 Keys at my senior composition recital in February 2005. Then in 2014, as I was creating a video for my YouTube channel, I discovered an important error: one pitch, the G below middle C, was used twice, and the 88th pitch was missing! Fortunately it was too late for St. Olaf to revoke my degree and make me re-do my entire senior recital. I adjusted the piece to fix the error, and now it properly lives up to its title.

– Carl Schroeder, April 2019

CD RECORDINGS
88 Keys: Piano Music by Carl Schroeder - Carl Schroeder, piano
Musings (Society of Composers, Inc., Volume 22) - Carl Schroeder, piano

CONCERT PERFORMANCES
February 25, 2005: Carl Schroeder, piano - Northfield, MN premiere
April 11, 2006: Carl Schroeder, piano - Minneapolis, MN
June 25, 2006: Carl Schroeder, piano - Minneapolis, MN

PUBLICATION
SCI (Society of Composers, Inc.) Journal of Music Scores, Volume 39: Published by European American Music
88 Keys: Piano Music by Carl Schroeder (Solo piano sheet music collection)