Freddy Kempf piano
Divine Art DDX21243
Matt Dibble was born and lived in Southeast London. He studied music at the University of York, and at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. He was a songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, arranger and producer, releasing six albums.
As a composer he wrote everything from pop songs to jazz and classical numbers. He finished the 24 Preludes and Fugues a short while before his death in 2021 (a result of a fatal reaction to the AstraZeneca vaccine). He had been writing them in secret since 2015 but, before dying, told friends where they could find them.
The pieces are wide ranging in style reflecting the composer’s training and interests. There are respectful references to Bach and Shostakovich, how could there not be? – but also to jazz pianists such Keith Jarrett and Bill Evans. They are meticulously worked out, and the final pitch of each fugue matches the first note of the following prelude. They are unorthodox in that none of them say in D or F#, but rather on C#m3 or on Fm3, which relate to chords not keys. That said, they do follow a pattern of alternating fifths starting on D, and go through all the major and minor keys.
Picking favourites out of 24 is hard but I liked Prelude No. 7, maybe because its simple arpeggiated chords reminded me of the Shostakovich in D major which I played for my ABRSM Grade 8 exam 50 years ago. The fugue however is not like the Shostakovich, being decidedly chromatic and turbulent, but very impressive. Prelude No. 17 (Alone -5AM) is a beautiful jazzy nightclub number. The fugue is altogether jollier, like something Madeline Dring would have written had she been so minded. The fugue subject from No. 3 reminded me of that from the finale of Vaughan Williams Piano Concerto, such is the journey we are taken on. The final fugue on G3 is very much an homage to Keith Jarrett and its puckish 7/8-time signature works brilliantly.
Mr Dibble’s family and friends crowdfunded over £17,000 to enable Mr Kempff to realise this recording. He does them proud approaching each of the pieces with the care and sensitivity he brings to established classics. The Divine Art engineers have captured the piano sound in a wonderfully warm acoustic. Fugues can be very dry affairs, but Mr Dibble clearly loved the form, and his approach has left us with something refreshingly alive. I hope other pianists will take up at least some of them.
Review by Paul RW Jackson