Karlheinz Essl - Rudiments
One of the few modern composers who incorporates the sound of electronic musical equipment into his highly unusual and multi dimensional scores is also doing great things for electronic music in general, namely bringing the possibilities of a single instrument capable of limitless expression (i.e. the common or garden synthesizer) to the attention of those who invariably turn off at the thought of anything that has to be turned on before it'll work.
A native of Germany, Karlheinz Essl is fast making his mark in the classical music world. Capable of producing a myriad of emotive and effective statements without overstatement of the obvious or traditional.
Entsagung, track five on the compilation CD Rudiments, includes some of the most subtle interplays between acoustic and electronic instruments that I've ever heard on a modern classical recording, and although my experiences listening to such works range from those produced by the likes of Wendy Carlos, Karlheinz Stockhausen and Paul Lansky, I do believe I know enough about the deeper side of electronic music to realize that what he is doing is up there with the best around.
I'd like to revisit this recording, after hearing more music from other composers, and see wether I have a deeper understanding of what's exactly going on, and why. All I really know for sure is that it's a great CD, one which I'll be playing alongside albums from the likes of Kraftwerk, Prodigy and Fluke.
Rating: 846,227 (out of a possible 1,000,000)
