Scott Wollschleger: Soft Aberration

Album review

The music of American composer Scott Wollschleger is undergirded by philosophical ideas, including those of the fearsome French philosopher Gilles Deleuze. Deleuze, in fact, provided the basis for Wollschleger's coined genre designation Brontal, which denotes, in the composer's words, "the idea that we can create art that is very basic and human by discovering the sensation of an object." Indeed, Wollschleger's music is accessible and compelling without reference to the philosophical substructure. The composer seems to be trying to present the sounds of instruments (conventional, not electronic) and voices in their most basic possible ways. Sample the first movement of Bring Something Incomprehensible into the World, based on and in part setting words of Deleuze. It's not clear why this work is broken up into three separated sections, especially inasmuch as they are indicated as to be played without a break in published form. But the opening movement, for voice and trumpet overlapping, is fascinating; there is little really extended technique for either singer or trumpeter, but the timbres are unique. The pieces are played by top-notch New York contemporary musicians who can realize Wollschleger's ideas. Wollschleger has described himself as "following lightly in the footsteps of the New York School," and for those curious about the contemporary ramifications of that group of composers, this is enthusiastically recommended.

© TiVo