By Deuce

Frank Clare’s latest work, Admiratio Magna, is a curious study of a man and his music. Perhaps a man and his piano is a better description, since that instrument is the only sound to populate this seven-song pastiche of moods, tempos, and melodies.

There’s likely little one can do to prepare for this foray into Clare’s creativity. A fair amount of the songs aren’t titled in English, which one may infer from the name of the album. One tune’s over 20 minutes. Another is almost 10 and none of the songs are five (or even six) minutes.

What Clare’s got going for him is an unusual style where he begins to play and then, for no apparent reason, stops. The concept of space and breath in music is extended beyond any known boundaries on this affair. This effect is most noticeable on the album’s leadoff, “A Gathering of Possibilities”. For a significant part of the song the man doesn’t play more than two notes consecutively before pausing for about five seconds, if not longer.

This penchant is on full display for the rest of the album as well. Furthermore, Clare manipulates this style to a variation of ends. Sometimes he simply plays the same notes over and over. Other times he comes back in hitting the keys louder, or softer, after his pauses. It works really well when he resumes playing with the same phrase but with the addition of high notes in the mix.

Through it all, he covers the range of emotions one can summon while coaxing music from the piano. He’s not beyond banging on the keys themselves, which he does on more than one occasion on “La Grande Sorpresa”, which is the 20-minute one.

On this tune, interestingly enough, he spends more time playing and less time pausing than on the others. But that’s only the case in parts. Still, when he keeps it going he produces some delectable sounds, the best of which are prone to catching you off guard.

“The Bells of Noumenania” works well because the maestro is actually able to translate the piano’s sounds into those strikingly similar to bells. Ultimately, it’s this proclivity to translate, transfigure, and surprise that’s Clare’s stock in trade, which makes this project worthy of the gravity of its name.