sound experience Archive

LARS GRAUGAARD: Venus – NYU Contemp. Music Ens. and other NYU performers – Dacapo

by Audiophile Audition | Feb 26, 2016 | SACD & Other Hi-Res Reviews

LARS GRAUGAARD: Venus – NYU Contemp. Music Ensemble; NYU Percussion Ens./ NYU Sym. Orch. / Jens Georg Bachmann & Jonathan Haas, conductors/ Patti Kilroy, violin/ Ian Shafer, oboe/ Patrick Swoboda, double bass – Dacapo multichannel SACD 6.220628, 58:52 (10/9/15) [Distr. by Naxos] ***: Contemporary computer-composed music in hi-res surround. The four works on this SACD by Lars Graugaard (b. 1957) were composed especially for the ensembles of New York University, in what is referred to as a “joint search for a new rich and varied musical discourse.” Endeavoring into the complex relationship between composition, perception and emotion, Graugaard uses a computer as a sophisticated performance vehicle and a compositional tool in scored and interactive music, creating a unique and radical sound experience. The composer’s experiments have led him to use software to create the emotional content of his compossions. Normally, I am skeptical of these experimental attempts to have computers create cogent music, but I think here the efforts are largely musical and successful. The first piece on the disc, Venus is interestingly scored, and to my ear it is an accessible piece of music. Layers of Earth is also highly listenable, starting with percussion and then turning contemplative and […]