ARAN is the last instalment in the trilogy of albums by French pianist-harpist-composer Christine Ott, based on American filmmaker Robert J. Flaherty’s cinematographic work. Flaherty is considered the pioneer of documentary and ethnographic films, following Tabu (Gizeh, 2016, based on Flaherty’s film from 1931) and Nanook of the North (Gizeh, 2019, based on Flaherty’s film from 1922). ARAN is based on Flaherty’s Man of Aran (1926), a film set on an island off the coast of Ireland, constantly battered by storms. The film depicted the daily life of a fishing family in the last century; it was a true hymn to the courage of these inhabitants, constantly battling the elements. a true hymn to the courage of these inhabitants, constantly battling the elements.

Ott is accompanied by keyboard player Mathieu Gabry, her partner in the chamber duo Snowdrops, which produces music for films, theatre, plays, and dance. ARAN was recorded live at Cheval Blanc venue in Schiltigheim, near Strasbourg, in March 2024, during Ott and Gabry’s last rehearsal.

Ott composed the music for ARAN between 2020 and 2024, responding to Flaherty’s images and quite musical editing of these suggestive images, which were considered experimental for their time. She first conceived it as a solo piano composition, but later incorporated her self-taught harp, then the theremin. The sixteen pieces suggest evocative, rich cinematic images that swing between Chopin or Debussy-tinged romantic impressionism, Meredith Monk-like minimalist, repetitive piano themes, and chamber post-rock, enhanced by Gabry’s keyboards and drone box.

ARAN is an immersive work, even without watching Flaherty’s film. It takes us to a not-so-distant time where man experienced a Sisyphean struggle with nature, but it also celebrates the bond between man and nature. It makes us think about the damage mankind has inflicted on nature in the last century, since Flaherty filmed Man of Aran.

Eyal Hareuveni

Christine Ott (piano, harp, theremin). Mathieu Gabry (keyboards, BAB)