This rapturous quartet, “Intangible Landscapes” by composer Yaz Lancaster, moves from stately restraint to operatic dramatics over the course of its meticulously plotted 12-plus minutes. At the composition’s opening, it might appear to be a latter-day Morton Feldman piece, a slow piano pulse (courtesy of Jixue Yang) under-girding crosshatched woodwinds (flute, Joshua A. Weinberg; bass clarinet, Tyler Neidermeyer) and Lancaster’s own violin.
But as it goes, it grows. The clarinet and piano gather steam, and collude to emphasize the emboldened pacing. The ensemble itself seems to double in size as the volume increases and the parts cease leaving generous space for each other. Particularly potent is the feedback-like noise emanating from one of the woodwinds around the 10-minute mark.
The three musicians joining composer Lancaster go by the name Apply Triangle, according to whose Facebook page “is an electroacoustic trio consisting of flutes, clarinets, piano, and electronics, performing works for any combination of these instruments that utilize pre-recorded sound, live processing, or electronic instruments.”
Track originally posted at soundcloud.com/yazjanelle. More from Lancaseter, who is based in Brooklyn, New York, at yaz-lancaster.com. More from Apply Triangle at instagram.com/applytriangle.