Search - Hans Otte, Herbert Henck :: Hans Otte: Das Buch der Klange

Otte and Henck Seduce the Piano

Scott MacFaden | Rockland, MA United States | 04/10/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"It has often been said that Liszt conquered the piano, while Chopin seduced it. Similarly, a great classical pianist was once asked what was more difficult to play--a bravura Liszt piece or the slow sections of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata. His response--the Liszt, despite its overt virtuosity and blizzard of notes, was easy to play, whereas the slow pieces such as Moonlight were extremely difficult to play well. German composer Hans Otte's "The Book of Sounds" seduces the piano in such a fashion that Chopin himself would surely be pleased. This fragile, delicate, often ethereal, but deeply affecting work places enormous value on each and every note, and utilizes passages of silence and space between notes to astounding effect. At times, it is somewhat reminiscent of the best work of jazz pianists Bill Evans and Paul Bley, both of whom created works in which what is not played is as important as what is. It is works such as this that refute the juvenile notion that loudness and a high dynamic level are necessary to create intensely felt music. Sometimes, the slowest and most covert music has the greatest emotional impact. ECM and Herbert Henck deserve plaudits for providing wide exposure for this unforgettable music, and we can only hope that the composer's follow-up to the Book of Sounds referenced in the liner notes will soon appear on disc as well."