Shop Now

InfoDad

The piano is part of a tribute of a different sort on the Métier label – to Gwyn Pritchard (born 1948), in recognition of his 75^th birthday. Three of the eight pieces on the disc are for solo piano, featuring Asia Ahmetjanova. The other five works are ensemble pieces in which Francesc Prat conducts the Swiss contemporary group called Ensemble ö! The exclamation point, part of the group’s name, fits well with its handling of Pritchard’s music, which has an exclamatory feeling about it that will certainly not be to all tastes but that gives every work an underlying (if not overt) feeling of intensity. The three piano works here are Calling, From Time to Time, and Tide. The first of these contrasts long-held single notes with runs and clusters; the second changes direction in unpredictable ways on the keyboard, with Ahmetjanova’s hands running in parallel or contrary motion at different times; the third starts with individual notes and explores the realm of quiet and delicacy to a greater extent than do the others. The sound of the ensemble pieces on this (+++) CD contrasts strongly with that of the solo piano. Realms Apart mingles deep, slow-moving tones with fast-moving, high-register ones. Features and Formations sounds constantly anticipatory, as if leading listeners to an undiscovered country to which the journey will be difficult but ultimately worthwhile – although there is never truly a sense of arrival anywhere. Nightfall really does sound at first as if something has fallen heavily, but the work then becomes a series of well-differentiated sounds punctuated by extended silences. Res has a sense of cloudlike evanescence punctuated by individual sounds. And Evolution intersperses silences with exclamations of varying degrees of emphasis from varying instrumental combinations. This CD, which consists entirely of world première recordings, is not and will not be the last word on Pritchard’s music, but it stands as a fair introduction to his compositional methods and his interest in bringing sound out of silence and then finding multiple ways to contrast those two compositional elements. The audience for this contemporary music may not be a large one, but those who are members of it will find this collection of Pritchard’s piano and chamber works a worthwhile exploration.