This recording contains two "songs" by Pilchen, realized by a quintet consisting of Anne La Berge (flute), Germaine Sijstermans (clarinet), Seamus Cater (harmonica), Koen Nutters (double bass) and Pilchen (piano). An intention was to "explore the possibilities of making and experiencing time through attentive listening and the interaction of musicians."
As such, this is not an uncommon approach, and one expects a thoughtful, probably quiet and spacious interplay of tones. Indeed, the hum of the room is a sixth member of the ensemble, their sounds embedded in and emerging from its soft bed. Even so, the issue for the listener, with only the recording to go by, is that one misses the non-aural communications which might be essential to the piece. The notes, in the first work, tend to enter one at a time in fairly rapid succession, forming a chorded layer that may or may not have any surface appeal; it seems to be less of a point to generate "beautiful" sounds than to encourage the sense of community among the musician but, again, if so, that notion is difficult to pick up in its entirety with sound alone. Listened to without benefit of the text's explanation, the song compares to numerous earlier offerings that may have appeared on the same label (Christian Wolff interpretations come to mind, helped along by the presence of the harmonica, potentially occupying the melodica chair).
The second song is similar, perhaps with a slightly larger portion of shorter notes from piano and bass (it's constructed to revolve around breath durations) and more open or near soundless spaces. Both are fine and entirely pleasant to hear though not as absorbing as one would like, again quite possibly due to one's necessary absence from the immediacy of the communal activity. Still, the release fits in well to the Wandelweiser catalog and will doubtless be enjoyed by fans of same.
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