| 12 short pieces for piano stretching just on 24 minutes, at first glance it may seem that this is the equivalent of those little books of hokey wisdom in which each page is devoted to a pithy little saying, but after having one’s heart wrenched and soul stirred in the space of less than the time it takes to watch a sitcom one realises that this is far from an excursion in triviality or kitsch. It’s just that each piece appears like an elegantly constructed sentence, complete with witty allusions, asides and delightful vocabulary, but it is soon evident that the nuance and subtlety conveyed would challenge even the most deft of poets, and perhaps allude all but the masters of Haiku. Chauveau strips away any hint of filigree or embellishment in his playing, letting arpeggiated chords sound until they decay, and single notes to drift and intermingle like curlicues of smoke. He also shows bravery in being unafraid to overlap with snatches of musique concrete, crackles and electric folds and a foreboding hiss that accompanies each of the pieces. Un Autre Decembre is one of those drifting pieces of ephemera in the ocean of sound that make life worthwhile. DH |
