Jürg Frey/ Keiko Shichijo — Les Signes Passagers

Les Signes Passagers brings together seven compositions written especially for the fortepiano- an early version of the modern piano, named for its ability to play both softly (piano) and loudly (forte). The works here are penned by Swiss composer Jürg Frey, and played by pianist Keiko Shichijo- who is a specialist in the instrument. The resulting album stands as one of the more pared-back/ sparse/ fragile keyboard-based recordings I’ve ever heard.

The CD album appears on Elsewhere Music. The CD comes presented in a six-panel mini gatefold.  On its outside, we have a minimal coloured crayon line against a sparse off white background. And inside we find white texts against a black backdrop, with colour pictures of the fortepiano, Shichijo,  Frey, and those involved in making the project possible.

The compositions run between two and nearly eighteen minutes a piece, with a release runtime of fifty minutes. We move from the steadily toll/ flat notation roll of “Avec sonorité, mais très doux”, which manages to somehow distil numbing emotional loss into a sonic form. There’s “Très calme” which mixes sparse low-end climb/gloomily bound with more fraught mid-range strike.

In its second half, we move from the epic/ though extremely sparse, “Tendre et monotone” which runs at just shy of eighteen minutes. It’s built around fragment/ mid-ranged notation, which moves nursery rhythm like tolls and forlorn key strolls. Onto spaced, darting, and very delicately placed notation of “ Discrète et loin”.

Les Signes Passagers is a fragile and at times intimate sonic experience. Both Frey’s composition and  Shichijo's playing are perfectly tuned to pull the most subtle emotional resonance from the fortepiano.