TRISTAN MURAIL (b.1947): Le Lac for Ensemble, Ethers for Flute and Ensemble, Winter Fragments for Ensemble, Synthesizer and Tape, Feuilles à travers les cloches for Flute and Piano Trio, Unanswered Questions for Flute.

Description: These ensemble pieces are given evocative titles, hinting at the composer's preoccupation with natural phenomena. With Murail, of course, 'natural phenomena' has two meanings; as a leading exponent of 'spectral' composition he employs pitch relationships derived from harmonic analysis of natural sounds, while the descriptive element of the music is plainly related to an evocation of raw nature (as opposed to a Romanticised ideal thereof). An outgrowth of impressionism, re-imagined in modern terms, Murail's recent music has an organic fluidity, with an abundance of shimmering surface textures overlaying more massive, slow-moving tectonic structures (the electronic contributions to Winter Fragments exemplify this contrast most effectively), and a distinctly perceptible return to melody. Erin Lesser (flute), Argento Chamber Ensemble; Michel Galante.