Douwe Eisenga: Open
V2 Records
Encapsulating the pandemic period during which it was created, Douwe Eisenga's Open might be the most exposing music the Dutch composer has yet shared. For him, writing music is already an intensely solo activity, but the time during which he withdrew into his studio to create the album's solo piano material intensified that paradoxical feeling of shared isolation. Tonally, the music exemplifies the signature qualities of his work; differentiating it from earlier pieces, however, are its introspective aura and unwavering solemnity, understandable outcomes when the pandemic induced so much reflection. Adding to the personal character of the release, the composer himself performs the album's nine pieces, which were recorded at home during lockdown.
Bringing clarity to Open are background details the composer provided for each piece. Some material, we learn, was created for the theatre program Left Out, whereas “Bruno” was commissioned as a thirty-fifth birthday present for a woman's husband and “Time Diggers” appeared in the music for the documentary Tijdgravers. While the earliest piece, the brooding “Searching,” was composed in 2014, “Theme I” combines two halves written forty years apart, the first section when Eisenga was eighteen and the second in 2019. Yet while such details are interesting and provide context, Open is best experienced as pure musical expression as listening to it as such allows a uniform impression to crystallize more easily.
The haunting tone establishes itself the moment a lilting left-hand pattern initiates “Left Out I.” A sparse array of right-hand notes gradually coalesces into an authoritative statement that gives the piece weight before the music quietens and then abruptly ends. Whereas melancholy persists with the advent of “Time Diggers,” glimmerings of hope emerge in the gently ascending radiance and waltz rhythms of “Bruno.” The latter isn't static either: a major swell in volume and intensity occurs halfway through to bring the music to a dramatic climax, after which a reprise of the gentler opening brings about resolution. Momentum is naturally central to “Walk,” but it's as much distinguished by how much mileage Eisenga derives from modest means. Notes are at their sparsest here, yet a stirring montage results that lodges itself solidly in memory. A similar trajectory to “Bruno” emerges at album's end when “Jump” builds continuously upward and presents a final testament to the composer's artistry.
While Eisenga's no Glass clone, his music does share certain qualities with that of his American counterpart. Repeating patterns lend Open powerful momentum, and eloquent, haunting melodies are abundant. Left and right patterns intertwine gracefully, the interplay between them intricate but not so dense that no room is left to breathe. Minimalism is certainly one influence, then, though the same could be said for other styles, among them pop and jazz. When all such elements blend, material of embracing neo-classical elegance results. As much as the music on Open is permeated by sadness, it's not maudlin, claustrophobic, or, most importantly, resigned. In its dignity, the music implicitly promotes the conviction that our current, still-challenging circumstances might yet be overcome.November 2021