Eldritch Priest, from Vancouver, is a guitarist but also a composer and author in contemporary avant-garde music, whether it is written, improvised, or a mix of both.
Too, So Like Nothing is a journey through the last 18 years of the composer’s career through three substantial works for solo piano. Unfolded in chronological order, the program begins with a 2002 work, nape…wrinkle…linger. Here, an abstract and contemplative, post-Webernian aesthetic is employed for about 11 minutes, with some subtle jazz colours integrated here and there. Gestures of great gentleness inform the playing of Roger Admiral, a Canadian pianist from Edmonton and a great interpreter of contemporary music. He gently sets down the scattered notes, connected by resonances or delicately offset repetitions, with care and respect. The piece asserts itself in an almost whispered but convincing manner.
In 2005, Priest composed …soot?aporia, a piece of about 22 minutes with a character different from the previous one. Here, the gestures are more robust, and the harmonies constantly oscillate between consonance and atonality. The effect is somewhat unsettling, but Priest’s discourse, assured and assertive, effectively captures attention. Occasionally, I feel like I’m hearing something by Kaikhosru Sorabji, but much more airy. Rather than the elegant granularity of nape…wrinkle…linger, this longer work seems to undulate more luxuriantly as well. The effect is striking.
The last piece is of similar duration, with about 21 minutes of fleeting thoughts and fragments of melodies constantly being born and disappearing. Composed in 2020, it is initially dressed in affirming jazz colours (the chords, the evoked harmonies) while maintaining its abstract nature. This positive character fades around the midpoint to adopt a more sorrowful appearance, with tightened, grating harmonic contours.
Excellent interpretations by Roger Admiral.
Here is an album of music that is certainly demanding but can convince newcomers to contemporary creation thanks to a clear vision and a zen and generally appeasing character.
