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British Music Society

When a new double CD of semi improvised music for solo piano arrived, I was intrigued to say the least and so tore open the envelope and started to look at the both artwork and booklet.

There are very full, informative notes in the enclosed booklet by Scott McLaughlin, which give the listener some insight about what the composer’s intention is in this pretty unique, but interesting conceptual album. Composer and performer work together for one reason and one reason only, a totally individual compositional performance. However, for me, there are way too many words of explanation. Here, instead of letting us listen, feel, and experience the disc for ourselves, too intellectual an approach loses me somewhat. I’m guessing that if the same approach occurred in programme notes like these at a concert, it would be a little bit of a distractional nightmare – as is often the case.

Manchester born composer Eric Craven provides us with much food for musical thought with this work which is made up of 48 individual short pieces for solo piano, split in this case onto two CDs. The composer here instructs the performer to decide themselves which order to play them in. In this way, each performance will result in a different experience, which gives an invigorated creative spirit to the work. Indeed, normal essentials of notation, such as dynamics, tempi and even rhythm are left out of the score, although Craven does specify pitches of the notes. 

Does this sound odd, lazy even? No, not really, but it’s an interesting conceptual idea, although I would generally expect the performer to add something of themselves in the interpretation of any work, as they feel at that specific moment in time. A rehearsal may, and can change beyond recognition during the performance, from a creative and enlightened player. Mary Dullea does a splendid job of pulling everything together into a complete whole, showing her excellent pianistic skills and creative interpretation.

So, because of this combination – creative concepts, and interpretive control – the CD is quite palatable from an aesthetic point of view, with totally convincing and clear sound throughout. All in all, this is an interesting pianistic album of both power and finesse, and a work which one hopes should have the opportunity of more performances.