Album: Alexis Descharmes, Klaus Huber: Complete Cello Works (Aeon)

Few composers have investigated the cello's range and capabilities quite as exhaustively as Klaus Huber, but the standout track here, "Ein Hauch von Unzeit" was not originally written for the instrument: Descharmes' mournful solo cello gradually acquires life as three further cellos join in, their lines weaving together with a timbral variety which in places recalls the piece's origins as a work for flute.

Elsewhere, other elements provide teasing foils – harpsichord in the "Partita", Korean drum in "Rauhe Pinselspitze", a few murmurs of "John!" invoking Cage in "...ruhe sanft...", and most successfully piano in "Lazarus", where the relationship between the instruments is broken down to what Huber refers to as a few "crumbs" of sonic detritus.

DOWNLOAD THIS Ein Hauch von Unzeit; Lazarus; ...ruhe sanft...