Péter Eötvös (1944), born in Transylvania and educated throughout Europe, has made a living conducting some of the most prestigious ensembles on the Continent. His music, particularly on this release, is postmodern in the extreme. The emphasis here is on various percussion instruments and their extended dynamics. To his credit, Eötvös keeps his music cogent–if a bit difficult to comprehend–and he avoids mere cacophony, at least cacophony for its own sake. Psalm 151, written in memory of Frank Zappa, is for a solo percussionist (in this case, Zoltan Rácz) and draws both from African statements (tone merely, not rhythm), as well as from some of John Cage’s concerns with time and Edgar Varèse’s simple unexpectedness. Psy (1996) is a trio for marimba, flute, and cello. The marimba, moody and tempestuous, gives the work an unusual depth, with the cello moving eerily in the background. As in Psalm 151, Eötvös also makes use of Cage’s consciousness of time drawn-out, where statements (tonal, atonal, whatever) can linger long enough to be intellectually digested by the listener. At 36 minutes, Triangel (1993) is the program’s longest work. Its subtitle–“Actions for a Creative Percussionist and 27 Musicians”–suggests something Zappa himself might have written, but where Zappa would have made the tempos horrendously fast, Eötvös chooses to keep things slow. This serves the music well, with every percussion instrument (including steel drums, no less) standing out and never getting swamped. The performances are quite good with excellent sound. But be forewarned: this music is probably only going to appeal to the very adventurous.
