Pignatta, Carlo
Jean Absil: Guitar Works
Jean Absil, Belgian modernist of crystalline craft, approached the guitar late yet with fresh curiosity. His writing, more accustomed to orchestral and choral forces, finds in the instrument a chamber of intimacy and clarity. This survey gathers the neoclassical Suite op. 114, the pictorial Quatre esquisses "Sur un paravent chinois", the characterful Quatre pièces op. 150 and the concise Douze pièces op. 159. Barcarolles, gigues, romances and rhythmic studies unfold in transparent textures, modal hues and supple counterpoint: progressive in language yet always lyrical. The Chinese sketches glow with imagery, while the later pieces compress wit and song into brevity. What emerges is not a curiosity but a voice distinct within modern guitar writing: Absil testing form and tone like a painter with brushes. Pignattas performance turns these pages into sound both rigorous and intimate, rediscovering a hidden facet of 20th-century modernism.