Douwe Eisenga: For Mattia
trptk

The heart of Douwe Eisenga's solo debut album is, of course, the title piece, which since its first appearance in 2017 has done much to help foster awareness of the Dutch composer and his art. Emblematic of Eisenga's lyrical style, the poignant setting originated as a commission by Katja Bosch and Janpeter Muilwijk to memorialize their daughter, who had taken her own life in the fall of 2015. After her parents shared with the composer details about Mattia Muilwijk, including the psychological suffering that led to suicide and her vulnerability and capacity for love, Eisenga set out to write the most beautiful piano music of which he was capable. Gradually the material emerged, a graceful, heartfelt paean that since its initial appearance has been performed by many others in different instrumental arrangements.

Many years of writing and performing by Eisenga preceded that song's birth, however; in that regard, “For Mattia” can be seen as a culmination and crystallization of the personal style the Dutch composer has been developing over the past fifteen years as a composer and pianist. His profile has been raised by performances of his works at festivals and concerts, both at home and abroad, and Eisenga is now one of the Netherlands' most recognized contemporary composers. Marked by certain characteristics, his music exemplifies the formal sophistication of classical, the elegance of baroque, the rhythmic vitality of minimalism, and the melodic accessibility of pop. After issuing many albums as a composer, For Mattia is the first album featuring him performing his own music, nine solo piano compositions in all.

Sequenced first on the album, “For Mattia” proves as haunting as ever as it advances through its plaintive melodies and lilting rhythms. Lower-register figures provide a firm foundation for gently trilling themes to assert themselves, the material subtly growing in urgency and tension and the merging of right and left hands producing as mesmerizing a dedication as could be imagined; one leaves the performance hardly surprised that its popularity has spread so quickly. The other settings naturally complement the title piece in tone and style, one of them, the as-haunting “Julia,” having grown out of a sketch Eisenga was working on during the writing of “For Mattia.”

“Summit” and “The Opposite” are delicate, melancholy, and stately; uptempo by comparison are “Gentleman,” which Eisenga animates with insistent Glass-like patterns and dramatic melodic motifs, and the chiming “Carried Away,” which is catapulted by ever-insistent and intricate figures. The melodies in the aptly titled “Pendulum Waves” glide gently on waves of clockwork-like rhythms, whereas “On the Edge” caps the release with an expressive lamentation distinguished by minimal chords and a sensitive use of silence.

June 2019