Mathias Spahlinger: Furioso, Gegen Unendlich, Fugitive Beauté, Apo do (von hier)

Chamber music by the fascinating German composer Mathias Spahlinger. Score of Furioso included. Once again, brought to you by the masterful Austrian sound engineers at KAIROS.

Mathias Spahlinger is a fastidious composer of highly charged music. His music does recall Lachenmann, but he is not a Lachenmann drone or imitator (like many younger-generation German composers). Instead he reaches back to the music of Webern through ultra-condensed miniatures and a very economical manner of writing. When I first heard Spahlinger, I was totally unprepared for the visceral intensity of his music; unlike the restrained expressionism of his Second Viennese School ancestors, Spahlinger's music frequently boils over into violent noise ("If the scrapings behind the bridge were taught in violin classes in conservatories, I would only write normal sounds from now on.." thus saith the composer). This music needs to be listened to very carefully. It is an exploration of monumental relevations of expression in a small, compact, terse, and very dense manner. Albeit not such a distinction, I should mention that Spahlinger is one of my favorite German composers alive.

I hope you enjoy it…


Mathias Spahlinger
Furioso, Gegen Unendlich, Fugitive Beauté, Apo do (von hier)

1) Furioso, for ensemble; I
2) Furioso, for ensemble; IIa
3) Furioso, for ensemble; IIb
4) Gegen Unendlich, for bass clarinet, trombone, cello and piano; I
5) Gegen Unendlich, for bass clarinet, trombone, cello and piano; II
6) Fugitive Beauté, for oboe, alto flute and violin, bass clarinet, viola and cello
7) Apo do (von hier), for string quartet - I
8) Apo do (von hier), for string quartet - II
9) Apo do (von hier), for string quartet - III

Tracks 1-3 performed by Ensemble Modern and conducted by Hans Zender. Tracks 4-6 performed by Ensemble Recherche. Tracks 7-9 performed by the Arditti Qaurtet.
Files encoded as Apple Lossless (ALAC), track information in ID3. Front cover included.

Zip files through tinyurl.com. Tiny parts at 53crrm, 49gl95, and 4j7jvg. Score of Furioso can be found here: 479n2j