エスケイプ・ライツ - オースティン・ウリマン: 弦楽四重奏曲集

ヴァイオリニスト、作曲家、教育者として活躍するオースティン・ウリマンは、斬新な表現を通して、現代音楽におけるヴァイオリンの可能性を探求しています。彼はジャック四重奏団のメンバーとして世界各地の主要ホールや音楽祭で演奏し、多くの現代作曲家の作品を初演。2023年には作曲家としてのデビューアルバム『The News From Utopia』をリリースしました。教育者としても評価が高く、マネス音楽学校をはじめ多くの教育機関で指導や講演を行っています。このアルバムは、ジョン・ケージが語った言葉「対立するものをも一体化する営みが良き生をもたらす」に導かれて書かれた4作を演奏。作曲の源となったケージの作品も収録されています。
ナクソス・ジャパン

American composer Austin Wulliman is a violinist of the avant-garde-oriented JACK Quartet, and this is his second album of music where he is the composer as well as a player. All the works here are by Wulliman himself, except for the finale, John Cages Totem Ancestor, which he originally wrote for prepared piano. Cage is one ancestor for the music here, for some of his music, even before he entered the sphere of total randomness, explored a sense of unpredictability lurking in the essence of musical materials, and this is what Wullimans music is about. Wulliman provides notes himself, referring not to technical procedures but rather partly to impressions from a view of the sea. The music is wavelike, regular yet shifting constantly as it goes along, with unexpected appearances of pizzicato. These descriptions pertain most plainly to the main works on the album, the 22 1/2-minute Escape Rites. A bit of sampling will tell listeners whether they want to explore more of the music here, but sample well; it will become clear that the JACK Quartet is in total control of what is happening. The music is exploratory but not improvisatory. A plus is the sound engineering from Oktaven Audio in suburban New York, where the album was recorded over a pair of occasions; the subtle string effects in the music make heavy demands on the sound engineering, and these are met. ~ James Manheim