Tenney: Form No.1-No.4

omposer/theorist James Tenney, along with the Musikfabrik ensemble, memorializes four new music or contemporary classical icons in this most interesting and irrefutably satisfying program. His four self-penned opuses are sequentially followed by Musikfabrik's renditions of pieces by Edgard Varese, John Cage, Stefan Wolpe, and Morton Feldman. Tenney's compositions are constructed upon spacious parameters and horizontal planes amid harmonic and/or non-harmonic inventions. In his piece titled Form 2 -- In Memoriam John Cage, the string and woodwind sections provide a central vortex of sound in concert with a minimalist-type thematic approach (or just imagine viewing a relatively unwavering X-Y axis, depicted on a chart). In Tenney's Form 3 -- In Memoriam Stefan Wolpe, the brass section instigates a domino effect via odd-metered pronouncements and implied rhythmic structures. Here, the various members of the ensemble dovetail their parts, whereas Wolpe's Piece for Trumpet and Seven Instruments features the musicians' intersecting pronouncements and complementary segmentations. Tenney has presented the willing listener with a plethora of mystifying perspectives via a union of polyphonic sound-shaping movements and subtly sweeping textures. An entrancing effort indeed. ~ Glenn Astarita|