Philanthropy

Album review

For almost 20 years now, pianist Volker Bertelmann has been releasing albums as Hauschka that have both defined and subverted the notions and boundaries of "contemporary classical" music. Firmly ensconced in an approach that is as mindful of avant-garde composition as it is electronic innovation (and the larger world of pop music), Hauschka's work has made Bertelmann as comfortable working with Hildur Guðnadóttir as with Hilary Hahn (both of whom he collaborated with in the early 2010s). After focusing on scores and soundtracks for much of the decade, Philanthropy finds Bertelmann returning to non-soundtrack work for the first time since 2019's A Different Forest. Surprisingly, the album also finds him moving away from Forest's straightforward piano pieces and back toward the fusion-friendly approach of his earlier work. His prepared piano is once again paired with dense, electronic environments, and Forest's intensely optimistic compositional mode—which could uncharitably be thought of as being, er, intentionally accessible—is again tempered by an undercurrent of noise and darkness. The maximalist minimalism of Hauschka is on display throughout Philanthropy, whether it's the throbbing tones of "Generosity," which manifest as dub classical or a track like "Altruism" that manages to be both fractured and funky. The driving but airy "Inventions" is a marvelous example of Bertelmann's ability to craft pieces that are epic in scope but spare in delivery, building on and circling around themes so insistently that even the rhythms somehow feel melodic, while a cut like "Nature" is the most dramatic of all the pieces here, with a simmering vibe made ominous by noisy distortion and a haunting piano figure. By the time Philanthropy closes out with "Noise"—the most gentle and ambient track on the whole set— it's clear that Bertelmann has returned the Hauschka project to its more dynamic and daring foundations with an album that is restless, adventurous, and richly rewarding. © Jason Ferguson/Qobuz