CD Review: Géométries (Nathan Giroux, composer and pianist)

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Studio Frontenac
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User Ratings (1 Votes)
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Géométries
Nathan Giroux, composer and pianist
Studio Frontenac, 2020
Total time: 40 minutes

Montreal pianist, composer and sound artist Nathan Giroux released his first album in December. Entitled Géométries, it comprises original compositions influenced in particular by the impressionism of Debussy, Ravel and Satie. The Préludes are strongly marked by this style. The third is reminiscent of the music of Yann Tiersen in the film Le fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain. With each new track, Giroux takes us a little further along the eddies to a dreamy and carefree world.

The next cycle, Géométrie, opens with music akin to that from Asia, from which the Impressionist composers also drew abundantly. Giroux’s other compositions evoke Philip Glass’s minimalism, without the trance effect it often produces, but rather a sense of the ethereal. The third piece of the cycle illustrates this; you can also hear the influence of the film composer Ludovico Einaudi. The fourth and last piece adopts an unheard-of velocity and transports us in an exhilarating whirlwind, in the manner of Glass. It’s also the longest track on the album.

Finally, Giroux offers us two waltzes and a nocturne that borrow from what the composer calls “contemporary piano” and which have the sound of film music. In short, this is an album with multiple influences, from yesterday and today, which will appeal to anyone looking for comfort or escape.