Sound researcher and minimalist composer Alvin Lucier has had a good year for releases, and this astounding set of recordings from the committed Zeitkratzer ensemble is certainly among his finest. The opening Fideliotrio, from 1987 the earliest work here, subjects the traditional piano trio to typically Lucier-iean perceptual games. Hovering around one note, the strings shimmer subtly around the repeated piano attack, like a refined take on Ligeti tone clusters, in a manner both annoying and sublime. The way in which the piano notes seem to bend is particularly unnerving.
Music for Piano With Magnetic Strings is more typical Lucier, a series of sine tone-like drones enacted from e-bows on the strings, as is Violynn, a live violin playing around sustained tones from tape. Silver Streetcar For The Orchestra explores the sound-making potential of the triangle, varying the instrument’s resonating qualities and resulting in effects similar to Charlemagne Palestine’s clanging carillon. The final Opera With Objects has performers take up resonant objects and tap them, sounding like raining pebbles or large-scale frustrated pencil tapping. Here, as in all of these works, its possible to lose oneself almost completely in the sounds being created, and marvel at the riches of our auditory environment, bringing new appreciation for that which too often goes unnoticed. Another resounding success for Zeitkratzer, next up is Stockhausen and Morton Feldman, two releases to get very excited about.
Joshua Meggitt
