This is a companion release to Houben's 'echo fantasy II', recorded on the same date by the same artists, also issued on Ftarri Classical. Three pieces here; the first two performed by Kei Kondo on horn, the third by Takahiro Kuroda on upright piano.
Long time listeners to Houben's work might be a bit taken aback by the sonic bluntness of the opening piece, 'his master's voice'. Here, water has been poured into the horn and much of the sound seems to derive from key manipulation while this condition is in effect. It's an extended technique with a very long history, to be sure, and one that, in this listener's experience, rarely transcends the simple audio-physical results. That's a bit of the case here; the sounds are fine and intriguing on their own and while the arrangement periodically uses short patterns of regularly paced sputters, it's lacking that "extra" dimension that might allow the listener to ignore the source and dwell in the abstract outcome.
Google translate renders the title of the second piece as "from the flying leaves of a traveling French horn player" which is, I guess, not so bad. Houben crafted a 13-page score with which the instrumentalist is free to approach as she chooses in all manner of aspects with regard to duration, choice of notes (or page), sequence, omission, etc., very open-ended. Kondo's reading is decidedly more "Houbenesque" than the first piece, a series of floating tones, often fairly long, with a large range of timbres and voicings, plaintive to growling to somber acceptance. The performance is thoughtful, patient and quite human.
For 'lose verbunden' ('loosely connected'), "the note order and pitch are predetermined" but all other aspects are left up to the performer. Pianist Kuroda navigates the score in a fascinating manner, never sticking too long in a given approach, so one hears him go from isolated staccato notes to a series of lush, almost processional sounding chords or rich rising scales. Impossible to say what's score-derived and what owes more to Kuroda but, of course, it doesn't matter. One sometimes has the sense of several performers, closely attuned, taking turns at the keyboard. As in the previous work, as well as most of Houben's music, the result is considered, perceptive and richly rewarding on a profoundly human scale.
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