American Composers On Another Timbre

When the batch of four Another Timbre releases came out in February 2024, one aspect was particularly noticeable; of the four, two albums featured composers who were born in the U.S.A. and still reside there, Nomi Epstein and Paul Paccione. Although the label honored deceased American composers John Cage and Morton Feldman with highly-praised box sets, it has not paid as much attention to living American composers as it has to Canadian or European composers. In 2017-18 the label issued albums by eight previously lesser-known Canadian composers, accompanied by a booklet containing their biographies, thus raising their profiles. European composers such as Magnus Granberg and Jürg Frey are among the label's most released and popular composers. Maybe Epstein and Paccione will prove to be the thin end of the wedge...

Nomi Epstein
Shades
Another Timbre
2024

Born in 1978, in Cambridge, MA, Nomi Epstein received her BA in music composition from Barnard College at Columbia University in 2000, her Master of Music from New England Conservatory of Music in 2003, and her DMA in composition from Northwestern in 2008. Her list of works shows that, from 2002 onwards, she was producing a steady stream of compositions for a variety of instrumentations, a production line which extends to the present day. Since 2005, Epstein has worked in a number of teaching posts, most recently Assistant Professor of Composition, Berklee College of Music (Boston, MA).

The music on Shades comprises three separate Epstein compositions dating from 2023, 2019 and 2011. The first one is the twenty-minute title piece written in 2023, which is performed by four members of Apartment House (AH) playing as a string quartet of two violins, viola and cello; written specifically for this recording project, it is far removed from traditional string quartet music and ideally suited to the experimental side of AH. Epstein has commented that working with AH was new to her, and an occasion she was quite excited about; she further adds that AH's sensitivity and respect for sound were palpable in the recording studio, and she left the "Shades" session completely moved and transported by their work.

In similar fashion, the second piece, "Sounds," was written in 2019, for a Berlin quartet with a very different sound, as suggested by the fact that two of its members play whistles. The piece was recorded in Berlin at KM28 on June 27th 2019 as part of the Vibrant Matter series at which Epstein was the guest composer. The album is brought to an impressive end by Epstein's 2011 composition "Sextet," played by six AH players who again justify the ensemble's excellent reputation and Epstein's. (Three extracts can be heard below.)

Paul Paccione
Distant Musics
Another Timbre
2024

Paul Paccione was born in New York in 1952 and raised in Brooklyn. He began formal music study at the Mannes College of Music in NYC, passing his B.M. in 1973. He says that Mannes' curriculum, modelled on that of a traditional European music conservatory, was a totally new world for him. His first-year music theory teacher, himself a composer, was Eric Richards who remained a mentor and close friend of Paccione's until Richards' death in 2020. Richards introduced Paccione to the world of avant-garde music. Paccione later studied composition at the University of Iowa, being awarded his Ph.D. in 1983. From 1984 until he retired in 2018, he was on the faculty at Western Illinois University.

As with Epstein, Paccione has a long list of compositions for a variety of instruments in ensembles of various kinds, the earliest being for solo clarinet and dating from 1977, and the most recent from 2024, for solo violin and orchestra. The five tracks on Distant Musics cover the early years of his compositions from 1980 to 1990/1991, although some of the pieces were later reworked, such as "Still Life," a piece for two flutes written in 1983 and revised in 2013, or "Violin," a piece for four violins written in 1980 and revised in 1987 and again in 2022.

During his three years at Iowa, Paccione composed seven works; four of which are on this album, the first time they have been widely available on CD as one unified entity. The opening track, "Exit Music" is so named as it marked the composer's leaving Iowa. The longest piece on the album at twenty minutes, "Violin" typifies the music. It is played at a soft level which has the effect of distancing the sound, while bringing the listener closer to the music. The four instruments play identical roles and are equal parts of the overall soundscape.

As with Shades above, Distant Musics provides an excellent introduction to its composer as well as countless hours of listening pleasure.

Tracks and Personnel

Shades

Tracks: Shades (2023); Sounds (2019); Sextet (2011).

Personnel: Mira Benjamin: violin (1); Amalia Young: violin (1, 3); Bridget Carey: viola (1, 3); Anton Lukoszevieze: cello (1, 3); Christian Kesten: voice, whistle (2); Michiko Ogowa: clarinet (2); Miako Klein: violin (2); Joseph Houston: piano, whistle (2); Heather Roche: clarinet (3); Nancy Ruffer: flute (3); Ben Smith: piano (3); Raymond Brien: conductor (3).

Distant Musics

Tracks: Exit Music (1983); Gridwork (1980); Violin (1980/rev. 1987/2022); Distant Music (1990/1991); Still Life (1983/rev. 2013).

Personnel: Mira Benjamin: violin (1-4); Bridget Carey: viola (1, 4); Anton Lukoszevieze: cello (1-2, 4); Heather Roche: clarinet (2, 4); Raymond Brien: bass clarinet (2), clarinet (4); Ben Smith: piano (2); Chihiro Ono: violin (3); Amalia Young: violin (3); Angharad Davies: violin (3); Nancy Ruffer: flute (5); Emma Williams: flute (5).

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