The word cosmophony is an amalgam of Greek roots that translate literally as “sound of the universe.” It’s also the rubric under which the outrageously talented Vancouver pianist Rachel Kiyo Iwaasa has united her favourite composers for this adventurous debut album inspired by the heavens. Completed over three years, Cosmophony begins with Denis Gougeon’s fiercely virtuosic Piano-Soleil and extends thematically out across the solar system in a series of ten works by West Coast composers. Iwaasa’s invitees form a varied constellation of available talent, from established composers Rodney Sharman and Jeffrey Ryan to newer voices like Marci Rabe, Jordan Nobles, and Jennifer Butler. With a multiplicity of individual voices, their diverse aesthetics are drawn together by a surprisingly common approach to the cosmic theme—juxtaposing science, mythology, and astrology to depict an assigned planet. From Sharman’s truly mercurial Mercurio dal Ciel In Terra to Rabe’s eerily intimate Venus, and from Ryan’s scintillating Saturn: Study in White to Butler’s submerged sonics of Neptune, Iwaasa deftly spans an array of atmospheres with impressive mastery and stylistic clarity. Noticeably absent from the planetary evocations is Pluto, which was de-listed as a planet by scientists during the project’s development. Instead, there is Emily Doolittle’s optimistic but ominous Gliese 581, evoking a distant planet we on Earth once had hoped inhabitable. Completing the disc is George Crumb’s ambitious Makrokosmos Volume II: 12 Fantasy Pieces after the Zodiac. Its inclusion is a brilliant touch of programming, not only for its showcasing of Iwaasa’s full virtuosity—calling on a range of vocal and avant-garde piano techniques—but also for the counterpoint it creates with the surprisingly traditional pianism used by her Canadian collaborators. Excellent writing, superb performance, and skillful production compel repeated listening.
