Norbert Leclercq
Les Productions D’Oz: 4 pages
Firenze is the Italian name for Florence, and this latest piece by Belgian born Leclercq is apparently telling a story for the listener, as its 5/4 opening is marked En Racontant. The first thing that hits you when playing this piece is how free the harmonies are. Everything is utterly tonal from start to finish but it is the unusual juxtaposition of chords and harmonies that make this composition not as one might be expecting. Tellingly there is no key signature in the piece, because nearly every bar takes you in and out of sharps, flats and naturals time and time again. So the piece begins on a Db Major chord in three voices, a situation that continues for a considerable time until an arpeggio sweep up and down an Em7 chord leads to a varied restatement of the melody that began on the Db Major chord. A sudden move to 4/4 and the piece changes completely into a Tres Rhythme section that continues in the enigmatic harmonic style of the previous that leads to a section where a rocking motif in the middle voice turns into a semi – quaver run up and down the fingerboard. This then climbs into a final repeat of the opening 5/4 section now in a different key, and a final coda on an A Major chord.
The piece certainly keeps one interested throughout .It is quite advanced simply because the direction the piece is going is constantly on the move harmonically and nothing lands where you expect it to. So if a piece that is somewhat unusual, and quite different to anything you may have played before intrigues you, then this could be the piece for you to try out.
Chris Dumigan