FULL SOLO

“ Paul Lay belongs to this generation of musical phenomenons who grew up with one foot in classical music, the other in jazz, and understands the soul of both traditions. […]
He started working on a Beethoven repertoire to celebrate his 250th birthday, at René Martin’s request for the 2020 edition of the Folles Journées de Nantes. He concentrated on a few universal melodies, such as the Moonlight Sonata, For Elise, Ode to Joy or his Symphony No.9, but also on his own compositions inspired by Beethoven’s music and the places where he had lived: Vienna, Heiligenstadt…

It can be very risky to tackle such a repertoire, and that’s where being a superhero makes all the difference. With amazing technical skills and ideas — and a true appetite for risk — Paul charges head on into the unforgettable tunes and appropriates the theme with the utter coolness of a jazzman playing great standards, revealing in the Viennese composer’s work a stellar melodist who begs to be played and reinvented, without loosing its timeless modernity. ”

– From the booklet by Laurent de Wilde

“ This opportunity to create for La Folle Journée de Nantes allowed me to delve into Beethoven's work. I listened to, deciphered and analysed numerous works. What struck me most was the power of the forms. Each piece 'holds together' masterfully. The difficulty of this project lay in finding the right balance, the right distance between the beauty, the perfection of these pieces and the new spaces created by my improvisations without the whole piece collapsing.

I wanted to develop new forms on the piano based on some of Beethoven's most important works while keeping the spirit of the composer: rhythm, melodies, breaks, silence and above all: Mystery.

I also travelled to Vienna for a short time to be inspired by the city where Beethoven lived for a long time. It was there that I composed the other tracks of the album. Each track refers to a mood, an emotion that occurred during my wanderings. ”

— Paul Lay