Erwan Keravec – 8 Sonneurs Pour Philip Glass (Buda Musique, 2024)
Erwan Keravec, a distinguished Highland bagpiper, composer, and improviser from France, has devoted his career to redefining the possibilities of his instrument beyond its traditional boundaries. Keravec explores improvised music, free jazz, and noise jazz. His contributions to contemporary music are exemplified by his development of a diverse repertoire for solo pipes, as well as collaborative works featuring a trio with solo voice and choir.
In his album 8 Sonneurs Pour Philip Glass, Keravec demonstrates his profound ability to transform and reinterpret the compositions of the renowned contemporary classical music composer, Philip Glass.
Erwan Keravec has taken Glass’s playful experimentation to a new level with 8 Sonneurs Pour Philip Glass, featuring four bagpipes and four bombards (Breton oboes) playing Glass’s circular minimalist music. These “first classics” laid the groundwork for Glass’s seminal work, Einstein on the Beach. Composed after his travels to North Africa and India, these pieces are inherently modal, making them unexpectedly well-suited for traditional Breton instruments.
Through this work, he not only honors Glass’s legacy but also expands the expressive capabilities of the Highland bagpipes and bombards, demonstrating the instruments’ versatility and his own innovative career path.
As Keravec notes in March 2024: “Here’s the joke pushed to eight pipers: four bagpipes, four bombards. Surprisingly, they seem to have been written for our instruments.”
Buy 8 Sonneurs Pour Philip Glass.
Author: Douglas Sanders
