Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales
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It is unusual for the sheet music tie-in publication for a major release to appear prior to the actual recordings, so when Hal Leonard delivered the new piano solo collection from Yann Tiersen at the start of the year it was quite a coup, giving fans a few months to delve into the popular composer’s latest music before hearing his own versions when the album lands on April 4th.
Having enjoyed dipping into these pieces myself, with preview tracks now available to give you a flavour, and with the full album release rapidly approaching, I think it’s time to take a look at Rathlin from a Distance…
Tiersen’s new music
According to the press release, Rathlin from a Distance | The Liquid Hour is an album divided into two distinct, interconnected parts, each with its own unique sonic characteristics.
Firstly, and of most direct interest here, Rathlin from a Distance presents eight tracks of introspective solo piano music. To follow, The Liquid Hour is billed as “an expansive, genre-defying blend of electronic music and psychedelic rhythms”.
The dual, atmospheric covers perhaps reflect this dichotomy:
The eight solo pieces which make up Rathlin from a Distance are named after locations that the composer visited during an extended sailing tour in 2023. From the Atlantic’s Fastnet Lighthouse to the Faroe Islands, Shetland, and the tranquil waters of the Caledonian Canal in Scotland, we are told that these tracks reflect a journey of self-discovery, and that,
“Tiersen’s piano work creates an almost hypnotic atmosphere, each stop on the journey marking a deeper level of consciousness. The music evokes a sense of space, introspection, and quiet contemplation.”
By way of contrast, The Liquid Hour offers
“…a bold and urgent musical statement, which opens with an epic, sweeping track that channels Tiersen’s desire for social and political change.”
From these descriptions, it is clear that Tiersen has neither lost his sense of purpose in conveying important reflections and emotions through his music, nor his dual commitment to piano music and more experimental electronica.
These two facets of his musical vision came together in his earlier release Kerber, which I reviewed here. However, creating distinct piano solo pieces for Rathlin from a Distance has been beneficial; I believe they provide pianists with a more enjoyable and complete musical experience.
From a Distance…
Hal Leonard’s sheet music publication is beautifully presented, the matt card cover taken up as expected by the evocative imagery of the forthcoming recording. Within, I was pleased to find that the 56 pages are spaciously printed on a soft white (almost cream) paper.
In his opening Preface, the composer expands on the sentiments of the press marketing and tells us,
“At sea, facing the vastness of the ocean, I began to shed the expectations, constructs, and roles that society places on us. The waves demand honesty. They strip away the pretence, the masks, the carefully constructed identities. You are left only with what is real. It is a space where you can begin to challenge your beliefs, your identity, your gender, even the person you thought you were…
Rathlin from a Distance is born of this experience. Each piano piece is tied to a place we visited, but also to a moment of meditation. These are not just compositions; they are maps to the self. They are meant to guide you to the core of who you are: not the version of yourself moulded by societal expectations, but the real you, the one beneath the surface…”
These are quite striking aspirations (and what a pity Beethoven never went to sea!) but while pointing to an intense experience in the composer’s own voyage, they also chime with the fragile, questioning zeitgeist of our times.
So what of the pieces? The publication includes the eight solo piano pieces of the recording along with a welcome, bonus ninth piece:
- Ninnog
- Fastnet
- Rathlin from a Distance
- Tórshavn
- Norðragøta
- Papa Stour
- Bigton
- Caledonian Canal
- Bethesda (bonus piece, not on the recording)
As promised, and to give you an idea of the quality of this music, the title track is already available to listen to here:
Tiersen’s music has always depended on pattern-based motifs and harmonic transition for its impact, and the title track above is a perfect example of his work. Listeners will hear that his music fits into that contemporary genre that continues to defy easy categorisation, and of which Ludovico Einaudi is the best-known exponent.
The mesmerising, cinematic ambience is understandably a shared language between these composers: Tiersen, like Einaudi, developed his art as a soundtrack composer, gaining fame for his music for Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s 2001 masterpiece, Amélie. We need not scratch too far beneath that easy recognition of shared post-minimal influences to understand how Tiersen’s music differs from Einaudi’s, however.
For starters, Tiersen’s harmonic language is both more searching, even at times ambiguous, eschewing the simple pop-song sequences of the genre. The frequent suspensions above minor chords give this music the yearning melancholy that pervades so much of his work.
Tiersen is himself a multi-instrumentalist; combined with his adventures in electronica, he has become a master of musical texture, combining sonority with supreme clarity of line. Coalescing with the simplicity of his melodic approach, his music certainly has a unique voice.
The beautiful Caledonian Canal also now available to preview, nicely illustrates the expressivity that Tiersen can weave from the simplest of melodies:
Exploring the other pieces in the publication, each channels a similarly reflective vibe, building on patterns which in some cases look rather difficult in the notation, but prove more accessible once at the piano. It is however worth noting that, as in the composer’s previous work, large hands are required for comfort playing most of these pieces.
Tórshavn and Bethesda stood out to me as particular highlights, not least because of their persuasive melodic charms, but this is a collection which as a whole will delight existing Tiersen fans, and may well win over a legion of new ones.
I am tempted to declare Rathlin from a distance Tiersen’s most enjoyable and accessible work since the aforementioned Amélie score. And if you enjoyed the extracts above, why not check it out for yourself?
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