In the Tracks of Müller-Siemens

Less publicized than other colleagues of his generation, Detlev Müller-Siemens, professor of composition in Basel and Vienna, is little known in Latin countries. These four chamber works, recorded by the excellent Ensemble Mondrian, may help to remedy this shortcoming.

Müller-Siemens' language is extremely contrasted, always highly colored, sometimes violent and dramatic, sometimes dizzyingly lyrical; there's never a dull moment, never a minute of routine. What's more, the sensuality of the sound is always present, inventive and surprising.

Visit String trio is played out on several levels, characteristic to the point of caricature, between which the listener is propelled without transition, each with its own dramatic development. The many color effects work perfectly thanks to the quality of sound and coordination of Ensemble Mondrian.

Distant traces à la mémoire de Ligeti is a reverence to the master, full of allusions, even winks, in which we easily find the spirit of the Hungarian composer who has so marked German music since 1950.

Lost traces mixes microtonality in clusters with obsessively repeated rhythms to the point of incandescence: a real treat.

Another moment of grace: the third part of ...called duskan ethereal flageolet cantilena from the cello, with a melancholy piano gravitating around it.

The CD is accompanied by a booklet with an excellent essay on the generations that have succeeded one another in Darmstadt, shedding light on the artistic origins of Detlev Müller-Siemens.

Detlev Müller-Siemens: Traces (Streichtrio, distant traces, ...called dusk, lost traces), Mondrian Ensemble, Basel. Wergo WER 7310 2