Adrián Demoč: Neha

The last Adrián Demoč album release was Hlaholika (Another Timbre, 2021), featuring the title composition, which was one of Another Timbre's four "quarantine commissions" from different composers, commissioned at the beginning of the Covid 19 lockdown. Recorded in August 2020, that piece was played by five members of Apartment House, presumably because larger ensembles were not allowed due to the virus. In fact, that album's only track featuring six players, "Lešenie k zahĺbeniu" had been recorded in May 2005.

Fast forward to Demoč's album Neha and the landscape is very different, with both of its tracks, "Neha (2018)" and "Popínavá hudba (2022)," having been written for orchestra and recorded live, the former in June 2021, played by the Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Marián Lejava, the latter in November 2022, played by the Ostrava New Orchestra conducted by Petr Kotik.

In interview, Demoč has said that, as a listener and a composer, he tends to prefer gentle, soft, non-violent music, but he is also always searching for different shades, possibilities and discoveries within this very broad category. The music here is completely compatible with those sentiments. The twenty-eight-minute opener, "Neha (2018)" (fittingly, the title is a Slovak word which translates as "tenderness") radiates restraint and tranquility, with chords, pitches and silences returning without any climaxes or dramas; although it is soothing and mesmerising, there is plenty of detail throughout which merits attention and ensures the music never becomes soporific. Impressively, "Neha (2018)" was only Demoč's third composition for an orchestra.

The twenty-six-and-a-half-minute "Popinavá hudba (2022)," which was written for the Ostrava New Orchestra, has many of the same strengths as the opener; uncluttered, yet full of detail, it makes easy yet enthralling listening no matter how often it is heard. Taken together, the album's two tracks display Demoč's burgeoning skills as a composer, especially for orchestra, and indicate that he is one to watch.