Senk, Nina - Impetus
Fiendishly difficult, this 2006 tour de force for alto saxophone and piano runs the gamut of extended techniques but with strong musical ideas. The opening solo sax movement segues into a thunking, deadened piano rhythm with more slaps and schizophrenic melodies. The timbres created amidst the piano clusters, extreme trilling and multiphonics yield up in the end to Andriessenesque whumping before an evil third movement slumps into focus. Timbral manipulation is the saxophone's task here and although unusual, actually provides a spot of light... actually dark relief before the final movement's chaos ensues. The chaos emerges fairly soon, building from a mutated piano groove that sounds like a harpsichord having a midlife crisis. The sonority of the closing moments reminds me very sightly of a fantastic work by Donnacha Dennehey - Glamour Sleeper.