Jean Absil doesn t just have the honor of occupying the first pages of all musical dictionaries; he is also one of the most important Belgian composers of the 20th century. In the course of a long and prestigious career, which gave him access to the main European editors, he wrote works that brought him friendship and respect from composers as diverse as Florent Schmitt, Darius Milhaud, and Béla Bartók. Sometimes harsh, often appealing, and almost always polytonal and contrapuntal, his refined language earned him international recognition which was halted by World War II but truly took off afterwards. Here, Daniel Blumenthal gives us his personal exploration of a fascinating and colorful piano repertoire.