Two Very Different Composers On Another Timbre

The musicians who have featured on Another Timbre (AT) album releases more than anyone else are the ensemble Apartment House who have been on a quarter of the label's last hundred releases, usually performing works by other composers.

The label has a penchant for promoting composers, be they young or older, male or female, from any country. For some composers, a release on the label may be a one-off, yet will lead to success elsewhere. For other composers, an AT release opens the door and they become regular returners to the label. The two composers below are of different ages, genders and nationalities yet are good examples of this...

Jürg Frey
Outermost Melodies
Another Timbre
2024

Born in Aarau, Switzerland in 1953, clarinetist and composer Jürg Frey has been connected with the Wandelweiser group since 1983 when his first composition "Sam Lazaro Bros," for piano, opened his Edition Wandelweiser score catalogue. Over forty years later, that score catalogue contains over one hundred and eighty compositions, many of them multi-part works. The variety of Frey's work is emphasised by the fact that among those compositions are pieces for three to eight voices, for four saxophones, and for electronic music. It is noticeable how many pieces are for percussion alone or in conjunction with other instruments. All of which brings us to Outermost Melodies...

With a running time of two hours and thirty-six minutes, this double CD comprises Frey compositions covering the quarter century from "Die meisten Sachen macht man selten (1994/1997)" until "Tender Outermost Melodies (2022)"; Of the album's seven pieces, two are four-part works, "Gewicht, Luft, Farbe" at 37' 49" and "Tender Outermost Melodies" at 21' 48." All are percussion works performed by percussionist Ian Antonio, except "Toucher l'air (2019)" on which he is joined by three others in the quartet Talujon. Beyond that, Antonio is credited with no instruments other than 'percussion.' Anyone expecting a percussionist playing a drum kit rhythmically is in for a surprise; Antonio's playing leans more towards gently struck metal or scraping sounds and an occasional bass drum or cymbal. In true Wandelweiser fashion, each sound is savoured and allowed to fade away before another is played. Overall, this is music which requires undivided attention to be fully appreciated, and which amply repays such attention.

Catherine Lamb
Curva Triangulus
Another Timbre
2024

When Catherine Lamb's first Another Timbre album, Three Bodies (Moving) (2012), was recorded in September 2011 at the California Institute of the Arts, a version of the 2010 title composition played on cello, violin and bass clarinet, Lamb was in her late twenties. In interview, with comments such as "To be honest, I'm not sure what contemporary music is" she came across as relatively naïve but willing to learn.

Fast forward to Curva Triangulus, Lamb's seventh album on the label (making her one of Another Timbre's most recorded composers, not far behind Jürg Frey and Magnus Granberg) and we find the US-born musician and composer in her early forties, living in Berlin, Germany. She is so popular that it is no longer possible to buy Three Bodies (Moving) on CD, only on download from Bandcamp.

The album's sole track shares its title with the album, both following Lamb's recent habit of giving her works Latin names. Originally composed in 2018, "Curva Triangula" was re-examined by Lamb and the octet Ensemble Proton in 2020/21, the end result being slight changes to accommodate the octet's instruments. Ensemble Proton play a beautiful thirty-three minute, twenty-part rendition of the piece, with each part lasting between forty-two seconds and three-and-a-half minutes and having its own individual identity; the whole piece is coherent and very easy to listen to, at times having a quasi-religious feel. On this evidence, Lamb is on a roll and many more fine compositions from her can be expected.

Tracks and Personnel

Outermost Melodies

Tracks: Glafsered I (2002); Gewicht, Luft, Farbe (2014/2015); Toucher l'air (2019); Tender Outermost Melodies (2022); Die meisten Sachen macht man selten (1994/1997); Jemandem bei einer Tatigkeit zuhören (1997); Metal, Stone (2003).

Personnel: Ian Antonio: percussion; Talujon:-David Cossin, Tom Kolor, Matt Ward (3).

Curva Triangulus

Tracks: Curva Triangulus

Personnel: Ensemble Proton:-Bettina Berger: flute, alto flute; Martin Bliggenstorfer: cor anglaise, luopphone; Richard Haynes: clarinet d'amore, bass clarinet; Elise Jacoberger: bassoon, contraforte; Vera Schnider: triple harp; Coco Schwarz: arciorgano; Maximilian Haft: violin; Jan-Filip Tupa: violoncello.

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