An interview with Ivan Wyschnegradsky (1976)

From his home in Paris, Russianborn composer Ivan Wyschnegradsky discusses with Charles Amirkhanian his approach to writing microtonal music, and his desire for a chromatic revolution. He describes his invention of the quartertone piano that has two harps controlled by three keyboards, enabling performances by a single player, and elaborates on his subsequent evolution as a composer. Wyschnegradsky focuses on The Day of Existence, an early work (influenced by Scriabin) that he is revisiting, and his most popular piece, Also Sprach Zarathustra. He demonstrates the quartertone piano, and details his unconventional approach of dividing pitch space into nonoctavian units. Wyschnegradsky also shares some of the logistical difficulties of composing such unique music, and describes his desire to popularize microtonal, or hyperchromatic music and