TUESDAY NIGHT IN LOS ANGELES, musician Marya Alford debuted “Franny (and Zooey)”, a duet for piano that was composed based on “every element” of punctuation from J.D. Salinger’s “Franny and Zooey.”
By way of praise, the blog LA Weekly wrote that “​As far as experimental compositions go, the music itself isn’t all that unpleasant-sounding…” It’s an accurate assessment, based on the sample available online (see below). Spare notes and soft, major-key chords build up slowly, filling out the silence with something that may or may not ever take shape (this is the part where I forego some lame exhortation to listen for the notes that aren’t being played).

The sample sounds like Keith Jarrett tuning up, or the opening piano futzing on Ani DiFranco’s “You Had Time.” Whether it ever manages to connect with Salinger’s stories is unclear. Take a listen.

.
If you’re having trouble with the embedded player, you can also listen here. A CD and booklet of the piece are said to be on their way.