“If I were a pianist, I would play my music like Reinier would play it.” — Jürg Frey

‘lieues d’ombres’ contains seven of Frey’s solo piano works, written from 1984 – 2018, including one previously unreleased work, ‘Three Piano Pieces’. All seven pieces were recorded by Micha de Kanter at The Muziekcentrum van de Omroep (MCO) in Hilversum over three days in July 2021, with the presence of the composer. The order of the tracks on the three discs was determined by Frey.

As a pianist with a profound affinity with Frey’s music, van Houdt masterfully brings out the nuances hidden in Frey’s scores with a delicate, careful touch as light as air, rendering the transparent yet compelling beauty of each piece with an exquisite balance of warmth and clarity.

Tracks

1. La Présence, Les Silences 40:34
2. Sam Lazaro Bros 12:14
3. Lieues d’ombres 19:19
4. Extended Circular Music 9 21:05
5. Three Piano Pieces 1 08:21
6. Three Piano Pieces 2 05:16
7. Three Piano Pieces 3 04:23
8. Les tréfonds inexplorés des signes (24) 02:12
9. Les tréfonds inexplorés des signes (25) 03:39
10. Les tréfonds inexplorés des signes (26) 03:00
11. Les tréfonds inexplorés des signes (27) 02:57
12. Les tréfonds inexplorés des signes (28) 01:46
13. Les tréfonds inexplorés des signes (29) 04:04
14. Les tréfonds inexplorés des signes (30) 04:46
15. Les tréfonds inexplorés des signes (31) 07:45
16. Les tréfonds inexplorés des signes (32) 02:53
17. Les tréfonds inexplorés des signes (33) 04:11
18. Les tréfonds inexplorés des signes (34) 03:18
19. Les tréfonds inexplorés des signes (35) 05:15
20. Pianist, alone (2) 29:16
21. La Présence, Les Silences (excerpt) 04:38
22. Sam Lazaro Bros (excerpt) 02:57
23. Lieues d’ombres (excerpt) 03:22
24. Extended Circular Music 9 (excerpt) 03:30
25. Les tréfonds inexplorés des signes (24) (sample) 02:18
26. Les tréfonds inexplorés des signes (32) (sample) 02:47