What do you call a German who plays three pianos at the same time? Volker Bertelmann, aka Hauschka, the sophisticated keyboard version of a one-man band.

Cymbals on the knees are replaced by electronic wizardry, with self-playing pianos augmented by household gadgets, ping pong balls, Sellotape and pencils.

The result was a dazzling soundscape of whirring rhythms and hypnotic beats. It’s melodic but not tuneful, musical yet not structural, modern but not abstract.

Hauschka’s classical training gives him command of the keyboard and perhaps the authority to ignore its tradition. His pianos revert to percussive improvisation, light years away from the efforts of damper pedals to soften and lengthen the sounds.

A film projected at the back of the stage illustrated Hauschka’s theme, Abandoned City. The twisted concrete and curling pipes were apt metaphor for his musical imagination, and an echo of Disney’s illustrated sound waves from Fantasia.

The programme, played to a packed concert hall, was introduced and presented by the composer. He explained he liked collaboration, but he preferred a band he could control himself.

Modestly, he failed to explain that the technique required not only musical virtuosity but technical ability of similar standard. Bach was luckier.