Grossman Ensemble: Fountain of Time
By Jason Victor Serinus for stereophile
For your adventure of the month, take a ride on Fountain of Time’s five world premieres from the first two seasons of the Chicago Center for Contemporary Composition’s Grossman Ensemble. Founded by composer/director Augusta Read Thomas, the ensemble includes 13 of Chicago’s top contemporary music players on instruments ranging from the Spetkral Quartet’s traditional four strings to flute, harp, sax, horn, and batteries of percussion.
Although the release, available through CD Baby and download and streaming outlets, is limited to 16/44.1, Willis’s superb 24/96 master demonstrates exceptional attention to color, dimensionality, and precise placement within an expansive soundstage–essential for music that capitalizes on contrasting colors and textures. In Ground Rounds, Pulitzer Prize-winner Shulamit Ran’s refines attention to contrasting and evolving melodic patterns, and the depth and mystery of her music, leaves us eager to discover where it will take us next.
I was equally taken by Anthony Cheung’s Double Allegories, whose three sections explore “… of touch/heat,” “… of solitude/winter,” and “… of breath/air.” Note how the final section ends by simply letting go. My other favorite was David “Clay” Mettens’s stain, bloom, moon, rain. Inspired by English translations of 9th and 11th century Japanese poems, Mettens’s exceptionally beautiful music demonstrates a special attention to structure similar to that found in haiku. All these compositions grow richer with repeated listening.
View the review online here.