REVIEWS

Romanticism of all times

Review Cultuurpakt.be
23 December 2022

“Music that feels instantly familiar – like a story of which you want to know how it ends. That is how it felt listening to piano music by Titus Tielens, performed by Mattias Spee.”

Dutch composer Titus Tielens is not a traditionally schooled composer, but educated in Physics. Still, he has enjoyed since childhood a love for Schubert and French chansons. This one can feel in his music. One senses a strong link to romanticism, as well as passion and drama. His music sounds tonal, harmonic and rich. As if the composer wants to share experiences with the listener. Pianistically completely satisfying. As a self-made musician very convincing in what he wants to convey. Mattias Spee, himself also a composer, ensures for a maximum interpretation of the pieces. The recordings have been properly guided thanks to the professional ear of Erik de Goederen.

Tielens adopts a narrative style in his music. He describes the pieces as flowers, allowing the listener to fly from one to the other, and experience their taste and color. This is also how he let the musical ideas flow to him. Stories that write themselves, sounding spontaneous. Sill, one feels the urge to bring them out, thanks to the dynamic playing of the pianist.

The subjects cover friendship, dreams, infinity, surrealism, the ups and downs of human relations, an interview. Facets of life. One may call this collection a cycle. Do you love the piano, chamber music and romanticism? Then you will absolutely enjoy this album. A proof that new music may still long back to the good old times full of intense sensing and melancholy.

Melodic, accessible, beautiful

Review Nederlands Dagblad
25 November 2022

“There exists music that provokes film images in the listener. In Vivaldi’s Four Seasons you hear the winter cold or summer heat. It’s the same in this new album, Shades of Life.”

This is also apparent in a YouTube video of Infinity showing drone images of the Dutch countryside. A piece in which the composer wanted to portray a voyage. Explanations are given for various pieces. For example for Lockdown, a piece in which life comes to a halt, but then continues. Or for Les Couleurs du Ciel (The Colors of the Sky), conveying images of clouds, thunder and rain. [..]

Most of his pieces bear a nineteenth century character. Sometimes, for example in Hypnosis, the baroque era seems to be the source of inspiration. It is well-crafted, easily accessible music that sounds particularly good thanks to the beautiful interpretation by the young pianist Mattias Spee.

+ melodic, accessible music

+ beautifully played by Mattias Spee