André O. Möller, Hans Eberhard Maldfeld

2015 release **

"The tromba marina is a huge single-stringed instrument, played with a bow. For "in memory of james tenney", in four parts, Möller and Maldfeld each wrestle with one such beast, using instruments from the 17th and early 18th centuries. And f it's grain you want, step right up--this thing, especially Part I, sounds like the bow is severely serrated, close to being able to saw wood. A huge rumble that encloses myriad tones high to low. Think of an Eliane Radigue cello piece with your head inside the cello. Part II varies the attack a bit more, relatively smooth strokes coexisting with the rough; there's also the occasional pluck. It's dreamier, more liquid. There are moments when I'm reminded of the early, excited strings work of Arnold Dreyblatt. You can hear many of the brass-like sounds the instrument is capable of here, the pair sometimes sounding like a small sea of muted trumpets, pretty amazing. It's like a lost 60s Penderecki work for brass ensemble....but better. Part IV (the third section is absent) is a short, two-minute piece, almost a song, very hesitant and lovely. The final portion, subtitled "when eight is seven", is also far less steady-state than the first, shuttling quietly (though often quite deeply) from form to form, hyper-low growls wending through a panoply of mid-range, barely sustained tones, edging into silence, emerging elsewhere in the stream. It feels less sure of itself, more troubled, a welcome counterweight to the (strong sand beautiful) confidence heard elsewhere, both on this disc and Möller's earlier releases. It's wonderful work, very unique, all of these recordings (as far as I can tell representing Möller's entire recorded output) making me very anxious to hear further music from him."