New Couturier Album with Dominic Pifarély

Cover of the album being discussed (courtesy of Crossover Media)

The last time I wrote about pianist François Couturier was in January of 2021, when ECM released his duo album with cellist Anja Lechner, Lontano. Tomorrow will see his latest ECM release, Preludes and Songs. This is another duo album, this time with violinist Dominic Pifarély. For those who cannot wait, Amazon.com has already created a Web page, which will process pre-orders prior to tomorrow.

Those familiar with Couturier (or what I wrote about him) may already know that he has a dispositional stance, which I have described as “a rhetoric of stillness.” Pifarély is right at home with this rhetoric, which is evident not only in his performance but also in the four original compositions he contributed to this new album. One of these, the second of two pieces given the title “Les ombres” (the shadows) serves as a “response” to the call of the 1939 popular song by Manning Sherwin (with lyrics by Eric Maschwitz) entitled “A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square.”

The “originals” on this album are divided relatively equally between Couturier and Pifarély, and “Song for Harrison” was composed by the two of them jointly. Those with a command of the history of twentieth century music would probably assume that this was an homage to Lou Harrison. They would be wrong! “Harrison” is the name of Couturier’s cocker spaniel (who may or may not have been named after the composer), who intrudes on a performance of Duke Ellington’s “Solitude.”

Ellington is not the only American composer featured on this album. There are also selections by his contemporaries J. J. Johnson and George Gershwin. They are complemented on the French side by a single Jacques Brel track, “Le chanson des vieux amants” (the song of old lovers). However familiar these composers may be, the interpretations on this album venture into any number of decidedly novel embellishments (not to mention occasional ambiguities).

In the context of this diversity, the prevailing rhetoric is one of quietude. If I felt as if I was missing out on sharper edges, the only interpretation I would have found problematic was that of Johnson’s “Lament.” Nevertheless, since this is my fourth encounter with Couturier, I pretty much knew what to expect; and I had no qualms about those expectations being satisfied!