EA Bucket 34.

Grant Chu Covell

[October 2025.]

“Pareidolia.” Eren GÜMÜKÇÜOGLU: Pandemonium (2020); Pareidolia (2019)^a; Bozkir (2016)^b; Ordinary Things (2016)^c; Lattice Scattering (2018)^d; Xanthos (2019)^e; Asansör Asimptotu (2021). JACK Quartet^a: Chrisopher Otto^a, Austin Wulliman^a (vln), John Pickford Richards^a (vla), Jay Campbell^a (vlc), Conrad Tao^a (pno), Zulfugar Baghirov^a (clar, sax), Thom Monks^a (perc), Mivos Quartet^b,e: Olivia De Prato^b,e, Lauren Cauley^b, Maya Bennardo^e (vln), Victor Lowrie^b,e (vla), Mariel Roberts^b, Tyler J. Borden^e (vlc), Deviant Septet^c: Bill Kalinkos^c (clar), Brad Balliett^c (bsn), Mike Gurfield^c (tpt), Matthew Melore^c (trb), Jared Soldiviero^c (perc), Caleb Burhans^c (vln), Doug Balliett^c (cbs), Ensemble Suono Giallo^d: Andrea Biagini^d (fl), Simone Nocchi^d (pno). New Focus Recordings FCR343 (1 CD) (www.newfocusrecordings.com).

Including works for instruments, tape, and instruments with tape, this lively and unpredictable variety pack has anchored recent playlists. Representing instruments alone are two inscrutable string quartets Bozkir and Xanthos. Both transform the admirable Mivos into a 16-stringed mega-instrument. Bozkir involves different tuning, and tight volleys of catch and release. Equally awkward and irregular, yet logical, Xanthos espouses a different tonal language.

In the solo tape corner, the disc opens with Pandemonium which the composer claims to have constructed solely from a recording of an elevator. However, I hear instrumental material which may very well be from Pareidolia, the program’s subsequent piece. The final item, for tape alone, Asansör Asimptotu, builds from stuttering electronic material.

Works for tape and instruments include the title piece, Ordinary Things, and Lattice Scanning. Pareidolia proceeds with dreamy aggressiveness. The title is apt. As we inescapably imagine faces in nature or man-made things, so too do we listen to this 23:34 work grasping for something familiar. Scored for clarinet doubling sax, string quartet, percussion with drum set and keyboard, there are sections with driving rhythm which momentarily suggest specific musical styles, although the entire effect is chaotic and resolutely unknowable.

Similar freneticism propels Ordinary Things. I do not know Turkish well enough to know if Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s voice is altered, although it’s evident that Gümrükçüoglu’s ensemble (clarinet, bassoon, trumpet, trombone, percussion, violin and double bass) mockingly responds to the taped leader. The great arbiter Wikipedia informs, “Lattice scattering is the scattering of ions by interaction with atoms in a lattice,” which does not help make sense of the tight coordination between flute, piano and tape.

“Oblique.” Aaron MYERS-BROOKS: The 11th and 6th Caves (2020); Prelude and Entity (2021-22); Energy Shapes No. 3 (2021-22); Triads and Arpeggios (2022); Sonata for Solo 17-Tone Guitar (2019); Eight HighC Miniatures (2019). Aaron Myers-Brooks (guit, pno). New Focus Recordings FCR345 (1 CD) (www.newfocusrecordings.com).

All hail the 17-tone electric guitar! Purely electroacoustic pieces (Triads and Arpeggios and Eight HighC Miniatures) balance the composer-performer exploring the microtonal guitar’s sassy possibilities (The 11th and 6th Caves, Prelude and Entity, Energy Shapes No. 3, and Sonata). 17 notes per octave makes for tart and refreshing listening. We don’t have to trouble with large forms or harmony in Myers-Brooks’ concise pieces, although the longest item Prelude and Entity establishes a dialog between guitar and digital piano which starts from consonance but moves towards unpredictability. Energy Shapes No. 3 marries the guitar with real-time electronics. Eight HighC Miniatures steps away from the 17-part octave and uses a computer tool (HighC) that converts drawings into sound.

“Ice Door.” Juan José García ESCUDERO: Páginas de Mar (2022)^a; Sur la Pente du Talus (2024); Das Wort als Horizont (2024); Underland A20 (2024); Ice Door (2024); Coincidence Threshold (2020)^b. Emilie-Anne Gendron^a (vln), Christopher Gross^a (vlc), Benjamin Fingland^a,b (clar) Molly Morkoski^a,b (pno), Josh Perry^a (perc), Benjamin Grow^a,b (cond.). Neuma 201 (1 CD) (www.neumarecords.org).

Incomprehensible notes support invigorating chamber pieces with or without electronics (Páginas de Mar and Coincidence Threshold) and purely electroacoustic items (Sur la Pente du Talus, Das Wort als Horizont, Underland A20 and Ice Door). Escudero’s research involves music and math, and these pieces are witnesses to a structured complexity which nonetheless proves agile and winsome. I make no claims to understand what is going on, except to admire the energy and the confidence. Páginas de Mar has Boulez’ flamboyance propelled into a lithe line for clarinet, piano, percussion, violin and cello. The tape pieces appear to leverage splinters of real sounds or lab experiments generously transformed and enriched with reverb and echo. Perhaps Underland A20 suggests underground canals, possibly the title piece involves ice. Coincidence Threshold combines instruments (clarinet, cello, piano) with electronics, blending the styles we’ve heard already, but not surpassing the strength of either.

“Thomas DeLio: anti-paysage. Compositions 2005-2024.” Thomas DELIO: a content / of echo (2023); sound / shivering / silence (2013)^a; sinnfäden #1 (2019); sound / shivering / silence III (2015)^b; anti-paysage V (2024); Transparent Wave IX (2018)^c; anti-paysage VI (2024); sinnfäden #2 (2019); anti-paysage IV (2023); …klingend (2017)^d; …zwischen den Worten (2007); …klingend II (2017)^e; sinnfäden #4 (2019); from this condensery II (2020)^f; Song: “Foxrock, near Dublin…” (2005); sinnfäden #5 (2019). Rachel E. Copeland^f (sop), Lisa Cella^c (fl), Thomas Moore^d, Melody Quah^e (pno), Zeca Lacerda^a, Lee Hinkle^e (perc), Penn State Percussion Ensemble^b,f: Ross Campanella^b, Gage Kroljic^b, Charles McCall^b, Bella Scotti^b,f, Malcolm Taylor^b, Zachary Wilson^b, Jack Kerness^f, Paul “Mako” Robeson^f, Michael Valente^f, Lee Hinkle^b,f (cond.). Neuma 217 (2 CDs) (www.neumarecords.org.).

In DeLio’s universe, events are padded with space so that they may be fully heard and considered. Sound may be quiet and widely dispersed within a movement’s frame. Sometimes activity is so sparse that DeLio employs brief clicks to remind us that something is there. These two discs offer related pieces, chapters in a series or multi-movement works, for instruments or purely electroacoustic. When poems are set, their texts might not be audible because the composition is the composer’s reflection upon the texts. Thus, we may hear only syllables, or garbled and transformed words.

Some composers tend towards complexity and accretion whereas DeLio is a master of subtraction. Although considering his series, DeLio may introduce a completely new variant by adding additional players and movements: sound / shivering / silence III expands the Cid Corman setting within sound / shivering / silence from one percussionist to a spread-out percussion sextet. Paul Celan appears within …zwischen den Worten and from this condenser sets Lorine Niedecker for soprano and percussion quartet.

Short pieces encourage relistening, especially when we think we missed something the first time. Transparent Wave IX for flute completes in under three minutes. The anti-paysage series refract each other, forming disassociated collections of aural events, perhaps everything appearing just once, possibly all the sound sources are dissimilar. I do like anti-paysage IV’s arresting opening which intimates a coin dropped into a slot. In the …klingend series, for piano, and piano and percussion, DeLio concerns himself with the keyboard’s colors across its range. The sinnfäden series is very quiet except for brief moments when it is not.

“Seven by Seven.” Wesley FULLER: Time into Pieces (1977)^a; Concertpiece (1982)^b; The Carmargo Trio (1990)^c; sherds of five (1994); Four Phases for Three (1995)^d; details/lines (2006); phases/cycles (2009)^e. Catherine Fuller ^a (pno), Nancy Cirillo^b (vln), Jacques Linder^c (pno), Robert McCormick^c,d (perc), Kim McCormick^d (fl), Maria Lambros^e (vla). Neuma 122 (1 CD) (www.neumarecords.org).

Get yer sines and square waves here! These seven works showcase Fuller’s prowess and consistency across more than 30 years. Even into the 21st century, Fuller’s electronic palette continued to reference classic signal processing. I suspect Fuller’s penchant for this idiom reflected a belief that today’s digital toys encourage aesthetic and musical laziness.

Of these seven compositions, five are for instruments and tape. The crisp attacks of piano and/or percussion (Time into Pieces, The Camargo Trio and Four Phases for Three) are more distinctive compared to sustaining strings (Concertpiece, phases/cycles) whose acoustics struggle in these recordings (admittedly it is hard to capture violin and tape in concert, the viola fares better). Four Phases for Three takes its time to unfold as we try to discern flute and percussion from tape.

The two pure electroacoustic pieces are sherds of five and phases/cycles. Fuller’s gestures have space, the canvas is never crowded, and most events appear singly. Repeated listenings reveal humorous touches.

“Monad.” Lois V. VIERK: Spin 2 (1992; 2018). Molly JOYCE: Rave (2015); Kate MOORE: Bestiary (2016); Rahilia HASANOVA: Monad (1993). Ju-Ping Song (pno). Starkland ST-239 (1 CD) (www.starkland.org).

Vierk’s Spin 2 is a propulsive 14 minutes for two pianos. Ju-Ping Song takes both parts, panned left and right for an engaging stereo effect. Playing starts with interior sounds a la Cowell, and gradually progresses up the keyboard. At some points, it appears the pianos are several beats out of sync as if the work could be achieved with one player and tape delay, but there is more going on than that. The work emerges from darkness becoming guardedly jubilant.

Rave, for piano and pre-recorded electronics, opens cooly, building determined momentum. The instrumentalist competes with a pre-recorded instance, sometimes following, sometimes leading. Stylistically, we are in a lately minimal land of repeated chord patterns, tweaked with hard driving rhythms and arpeggios. Bestiary for piano and tape, a different piece and aesthetic, follows like a companion movement, similarly leaning on cascading chords and post-minimalist progressions (a Pärt or Michael Gordon piece pops to mind which I can’t fully place). Ju-Ping Song can clearly play anything.

The most distinctive piece is Hasonova’s edgy solo piano Monad, also the longest at 18:38. We hear Ligeti-like figurations, but then around 8:54, the mood changes irrevocably, building from an insistent baseline with slight variations. In the notes Ju-Ping Song offers: “Monad is Hasanova’s musical testament to the horrors she witnessed during the 1990 January Massacre of Baku’s civilian population by the Russian army.”