DeLio is an acclaimed contemporary classical composer who has been active back to the 1970’s. Today, he is a music theorist and computer musician; not only that, but he also composes music for ensembles. As you can guess, this is the currently last instalment in a Neuma series celebrating his body of work.
Being slightly wary of 'contemporary classical music', and not being reassured by the tag 'computer music' (thinking of randomly generated sound blips), I was rather startled by the first piece on this compilation, 'and of "of" '. You must know, though, that DeLio has worked several times with poet P.Inman, an experimental poet of our times. The piece makes (listened to via headphones) your ears (and hair) stand on end. DeLio has an approach of singling out sounds. That is, he spaces sounds apart by stretches of silence. Now, combine that with cut-up poetry, and you have people speaking left, right, and inside your head in an eerie experience, anxiously waiting for the next sound or voice and where it may come from. Words can be heard but not understood, mixing a variety of voices with electronic sound. This approach reminded me of Francois Bayle and other, primarily French, electroacoustic composers. And it is a welcome anti-approach to the dramatic narratives so loved by some, especially U.S.American, composers and authors, as discussed in previous issues of VITAL.
The ensemble pieces have a different approach, not taking recourse to voices and words. But the underlying principle remains the same: mingle sounds with stretches of silence. This brings out more of the single sound, exposing it and making it (sic!) more transparent. Some pieces are purely electroacoustic; others involve percussion, clarinet, saxophone, violin, cello and more, either solo or in two cases as a quartet. The snare drum in 'Transparent Wave I' and the xylophone in 'VI' could have been synthetic, but apparently, this is played live. As a result, the dichotomy between silent parts (that exist) is broken by variations between more or less dynamic passages. I am not even sure whether the xylophone is not followed by an electronic 'mirror' of a sine wave. It sounds so pure.
All in all, an enjoyable release that builds a lasting bridge between electroacoustic and acoustic music, neither relying on only one or the other, and possibly taking the best of both forward. And certainly, music that places itself outside of entrenched categories. (RSW)