This album marks the third release in the collaboration between the Ensemble Intercontemporarin and Alpha. This time the musicians of the ensemble and their conductor, Matthias Pintscher focus on American music: Intégrales by Edgar Varèse, Music for Wind Instruments by John Cage, Instruments I for six instruments by Morton Feldman, Elliott Carter's Concerto for clarinet and ensemble, Steve Reich's WTC 9/11 for string quartet, Sean Shepherd's Blur, and David Fulmer's Within his bending sickle's compass come for solo horn and ensemble. More than ninety years of creativity and musical profusion at the heart of the global city that the Ensemble Intercontemporain celebrates today. This album is being released to coincide with the fortieth anniversary of the EIC: forty years of discoveries and of promotion of contemporary music at the highest level of performance.
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REVIEW:
This excellent compilation — excellent in its musical choices and in its performance — is a marvelous balm to my ears. The two youngest composers demonstrate that at least some American music produced today challenges my expectations and proposes new possibilities for form, timbre, and harmony.
