| Norman
Records
After all of that I need something well soothing. Fortunately
here's Henning Schmiedt at hand with his tinkly piano and his magic
fingers being all tinkly everywhere. Klavierraum is new on Flau Records
and it's 15 tracks of pure ivory tinkles with the occasional new age
whoosh and shuffle in the background. I have to say I quite like this.
Its very simple, beautiful music which will appeal to folks who like
Hauschka, Brian Eno, Harold Budd etc. Definitely the latter..... Created
for his pregnant wife so she could chill out and be all pregnant everywhere
it makes me want to get up the duff though I'm not entirely sure how
to go about this. I think I'll have to see my GP in the morning..
Boomkat
He clearly thinks his new album of solo piano music is the bee's
knees - you might find yourself "carried away by its beautiful
harmonies", enchanted by its "wonderful sounds." In fact,
if you like this record even half as much as Henning does, it'll be
in your end of year top ten list. Fortunately, Klavierraum really is
quite lovely, avoiding post-production high jinks for the most part,
instead focussing on Henning's impressive technique, with which he plots
out sturdy melodic passages, or at times dispenses rapid-fire, hugely
expressive keyboard runs, which despite their floridity ultimately exude
a soothing, even meditative quality. This natural talent is assisted
by a recording cloaked in rich, reverberant sustain, augmented by the
occasional foray into digital treatments and looped signals. Amazing
stuff
Textura
German pianist Henning Schmiedt's Klavierraum sprang from a
desire to fill his heavily pregnant wife's room with music that would
enable the listener to be carried away by its beautiful harmonies. Klavierraum
certainly succeeds in that regard, though it's not pure piano music
but piano music often complemented by the enveloping presence of silken
electronic atmosphere (and the occasional creak of the bench too). The
electronic effects, whether they're more drone-like or looped echoes
of the piano itself, resonate, sometimes almost subliminally, as lulling
pedal points around which the piano melodies circle and dance. The effect
can prove hypnotic, a case in point the soft waves of electronic glimmer
that anchor “120ccl Milch.” He accents his playing by stroking the inner
strings during “3 Teelöffel Backpulver” and often counters the relaxed
background flow with rapid trills. Moods range from contemplative (“1/2
Teelöffel Salz”) and tranquil (“Du und ich”) to impressionistic (“Tee?”),
stately (“Kla”), and lyrical (“Vier”).
Elegant and impressionistic, Schmiedt's music will appeal to fans of
Goldmund, Max Richter, Sylvain Chauveau, and Peter Broderick, though
Schmiedt's music is perhaps less minimal and more full-bodied by comparison.
His technical facility impresses, too: whether executing rapid runs
or playing slowly and softly, he exhibits the poise and touch of a musician
who long ago mastered the instrument technically and now deploys that
technique in the service of artistry. Schmiedt's no novice, by the way.
His extensive discography of albums, soundtracks, and associated projects
for figures such as Mikis Theodorakis and Jocelyn B. Smith dates back
to 1987; he's created a soundtrack for a Kurt Weill film, theatre music
for a production of “Metamorphosis” based on Kafka's story, a “re-instrumenting”
of Gustav Mahler's “Songs on the Death of Children,” and other projects.
Ondefixe
Un simple aperçu du CV d’Henning Schmiedt suffit à nous persuader
du professionnalisme pointilleux et exigent du berlinois, lequel pratique
le piano depuis maintenant 36 ans, sous les hautes influences croisées
du jazz, de la musique contemporaine et de la world music.
Mais loin d’un quelconque hermétisme rebutant ou de tout autre intellectualisme
exacerbé, Henning Schmiedt s’est attaché avec Klavierraum à composer
des pièces décomplexées visant à établir un environnement sonore apaisant
pour sa femme enceinte.
Il en résulte une succession de vignettes pour piano solitaire (sous
maigre assistance numérique), se promenant sans heurt entre les divagations
contemplatives d’Harold Budd (influence aisément palpable) et les improvisations
impressionnistes de Keith Jarrett.
Si dans sa globalité, Klavierraum dévoile une liberté affirmée et une
étonnante souplesse d’exécution de la part du pianiste berlinois, il
renferme aussi quelques pièces plus écrites, harmoniquement moins complexes,
qui ne sont pas sans rappeler les aspects les plus poétiques de son
compatriote Hauschka (à ceci près qu’ici, le bonhomme ne fait pas un
usage détourné de son instrument comme c’est souvent le cas chez le
pensionnaire de Karaoke Kalk).
Même si à aucun moment, Henning n’abuse des artifices de post-production,
préférant préserver l’aspect authentique de sa musique, il n’en néglige
pas pour autant le travail du son (quelques jeux d’échos, reverb et
delay), allant jusqu’à vaguement déformer et pervertir quelques notes,
et à s’autoriser des micro-interventions numériques toujours bienvenues.(8.0)
Autres Directions
Egalement accueilli par la maison de disques nippone, Henning Schmiedt
délivre Klavierraum : 15 pièces de piano presque uniquement (enveloppées
dans une chrysalide électronique) à destination de sa femme enceinte.
A la différence des musiques pour bébés de Raymond Scott, amusées et
électroniques, Schmiedt fait le pari d’un recueil un brin austère qui,
sous ses airs simples, est riche d’une belle pureté mélodique et de
textures discrètes mais avenantes. Une tension sous-jacente est palpable
par instants mais l’ensemble évoque plus la contemplation et le calme
que l’arrivée bruyante d’un nouvel occupant dans la maison... Soit.
The Milk Factory
As his wife's womb bloomed, pianist Henning Schmiedt similarly filled
her room with chirruping meander-melodies that alternated with low-end
frequencies like the earth's crust fissuring and climaxing with seesawing
hypno-patterns.
Schmiedt is an accomplished pianist, composer, and arranger, having
studied music in Rostock, and having since scored works for several
films and theatre productions. This plainly reveals itself in his smooth,
articulate playing, which is capable both of a communicative directness
and a technical finesse. Each piece therefore has a dramatic and informed
sense of how to build tension and control it through measured release.
The result is not simply a series of comely piano vignettes, but an
engaging and polytextural music, motion based but also subtly layered
for depth, contrast and unexpected disclosures. Schmiedt sprays showers
of notes and small electronic sounds before slowing to a quieter pace.
In later tracks, he then gradually increases the speed, shaping the
album like an inverted bell curve. Klavierraum comes in the wake of
several piano albums from the likes of Goldmund and Peter Broderick,
but the album dwells well outside anything that might be considered
a fashion. The music here stands on its own.
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