NOCTURNE (LIVE AT THE HUDDERSFIELD CONTEMPORARY MUSIC FESTIVAL)

This is a live album recording a solo show by Irmin Schmidt on piano plus some additional sounds (at least partly manually made but in parts also from recordings) in 2020. There are three tracks, the first of which, Klavierstück II, already appeared in 2018 on the 5 Klavierstücke album. It is extended to twice the length here without actually playing that much more; he just gives it more space and draws out the dynamics/crescendo more. The other two, Nocturne and Yonder, are new. The three tracks span 55 minutes. At the time this was recorded, Irmin was 82, and at the time I'm writing this he is 86 with nothing further released in the meantime, so this may well be his last album, but who knows?

The album follows the minimalist and meditative approach of 5 Klavierstücke. Occasionally there are long waiting times between notes, and when they come, there are often not many of them. The piano is apparently to some extent manipulated and detuned, so that in many places the music doesn't conform to classical tonality. There is the occasional rhythmic and percussive part to shake things up a bit. Nocturne has a water dripping sound going most of it. Yonder has the most interesting sound world adding quite something to the very skeletal piano chords.

So I tried to list some objective facts here, so that you know what kind of animal you're dealing with, but of course this doesn't give that much hint regarding the (emotional) quality of this. None of this follows any conventional path, so I can't say that this is optimistic or dark or light or heavy or whatever. Calm it is, of course, but then some bits are really not that calm. It creates an open atmosphere. There is some hesitation, something indefinite and also mysterious in this. I'd assume that at this age the transience of life is an important theme, and one could understand this music as between this side and beyond, or being about wondering what will come. There is certainly some intensity and life in this, but the music also leaves much space to the listener, who needs to concentrate to catch the subtleties, and may or may not be able to connect with this (I do).

Certainly this is more classical music than prog, but then as classical music very special and actually progressive if on the minimalist and meditative side. The album becomes stronger from beginning to end, and Yonder is actually very impressive, potentially also for the progressive electronic listener (although it isn't really electronic). What a way to end a career if it really is an end! This kind of thing is almost impossible to force into the rating system, but I like it enough and I appreciate the uniqueness of the approach and the depth so that I'll happily give it 4 stars. I will however warn you, be open minded for this and don't look for conventional music (even prog) elements. Also hands off if you need too many notes or volume in your music.