One of the most striking things about medieval stone cathedrals is the massive volume of air that is encased in their naves. Upon entering one of these cathedrals, you feel the air pressure enveloping you with a stunningly present stillness. Any sound adds to this feeling, as you become increasingly aware of the physical parametersContinue reading “Thomas Tilly & Jean-Luc Guionnet. Stones Air Axioms.”
Genre Archives
Quatuor Bozzini. À Chacun Sa Miniature.
Since 2005 Montreal’s Quatuor Bozzini—leading interpreters of new string-quartet music—have hosted the Composer’s Kitchen, a workshop for emerging composers, where they hone their craft. In 2011 the ensemble approached previous workshop participants, and harvested thirty-one miniatures to celebrate the workshop and to be incorporated into the ensemble’s repertoire. This disc captures this large and widelyContinue reading “Quatuor Bozzini. À Chacun Sa Miniature.”
Francisco López. Untitled #275.
Composer and sound recordist Francisco López operates in an area where music and sound merge. On earlier albums he processed recordings from nature and buildings to arrive at this curious intermediate zone. Although the sources of the sounds are readily recognizable, the overall effect is undeniably musical because of López’ arrangement and placement of theContinue reading “Francisco López. Untitled #275.”
Eleanor Hovda. The Eleanor Hovda Collection.
The music of Eleanor Hovda (1940–2009) reflected her various concerns and interests in dance and movement and, by extension, space and breath. This is evidenced in The Eleanor Hovda Collection, with most of the recorded music stemming from the final twenty years of her career. Her compositions deal with placement of sound: the distribution ofContinue reading “Eleanor Hovda. The Eleanor Hovda Collection.”
Tim Brady. 24 Frames—Scatter.
Tim Brady’s 24 Frames series (this double CD and its companion 24 Frames—Trance, from 2010) is about precision and virtuosity. Billed as a larger project of “24 compositions . . .atmospheres . . . scenarios . . . [and] ways of playing guitar,” the Scatter discs offer six duos and twelve miniatures (solo pieces) composed by Brady. All are finely crafted,Continue reading “Tim Brady. 24 Frames—Scatter.”
Summer 2012
Internationales Minimal Music Festival, Third Edition. Kassel, Germany. October 6–9, 2011.
Every five years since 1955, the small German city of Kassel hosts documenta, Europe’s preeminent contemporary visual-arts exhibition. documenta attracts over one million curious viewers to Kassel, including world-renowned artists, cultural critics, academics, and international media. The citizens of Kassel are, as a result, one of the most open and culturally sophisticated audiences on theContinue reading “Internationales Minimal Music Festival, Third Edition. Kassel, Germany. October 6–9, 2011.”
CLAEM Festival: un gol de media cancha [a midfield goal]. Buenos Aires, Argentina. June 17–24, 2011.
Edited by Meg Sheppard. One of the best contemporary music festivals I have attended took place in Buenos Aires from June 17–24, with symphonic concerts at the Belgrano Auditorium, and chamber music and electroacoustic music concerts at the Centro Cultural Borges. It was given the full name La Música en el Di Tella—resonancias de laContinue reading “CLAEM Festival: un gol de media cancha [a midfield goal]. Buenos Aires, Argentina. June 17–24, 2011.”
Maki Ishii. Maki Ishii Live.
Distinguished composer, conductor, and curator Maki Ishii (1932–2003) created a body of music inspired by his lineage, heritage, and situation. The poetic sense of movement, gesture, and pace that pervades the three percussion concerti on this disc bespeaks the influence of his father, Ishii Baku (1884–1962)—a pioneer of modern dance in Japan. Also expressed hereContinue reading “Maki Ishii. Maki Ishii Live.”
Erdem Helvacioğlu and Şirin Pancaroğlu. Resonating Universes.
Resonating Universes is an apt title for this collaboration between electroacoustic composer Helvacioğlu and harpist Pancaroğlu. Each section of this disc-long composition teems with microscopic activity—flocks of muted plucking and granular shivers weave their way around resounding sheets of sound. Helvacioğlu has a found for his electronics a lovely balance with the natural acoustic andContinue reading “Erdem Helvacioğlu and Şirin Pancaroğlu. Resonating Universes.”