Search - Hosokawa, Riessler, Taube :: Vertical Time Study

In the ongoing series of Toshio Hosokawa's chamber and solo compositions under the Vertical Time Study and Sen rubrics, one can hear the kind of telescopic focus that enlivens the most astringent works of both Giacinto Scelsi and Luciano Berio. Like Berio's Sequenzas and Scelsi's single-note compositions, Hosokawa's works begin somewhat cerebrally but quickly barrel into virtuosity, showing off reedy accordion in thick lathering on Sen V or blurting suddenness from the three-piece chamber-ensemble of Michael Riessler (clarinet), Werner Taube (cello), and Yukiko Sugawara-Lachenmann (piano) on Vertical Time Study 1. Hosokawa envisions his temporal studies as focused on disjuncture, and the music is joyously interruptive, especially when accordionist Stefan Hussong provides stretched backgrounds for cellist Julius Berger to scour on In die Tiefe der Zeit. Fans of the mathematically theorized "stochastic" methods of Iannis Xenakis will welcome Hosokawa's methodologies with open arms. --Andrew Bartlett