Catherine Lamb — Curva Triangulus
Curva Triangulus is a decidedly warped ‘n’ wavering modern ensemble composition work. It shifts in & out of the harmonic & at points forlornly rising, and the nonharmonic & pitch-bent. As a piece, it feels akin to looking through a bowed, aged, and water-damaged book of paintings/ illusions- as you see equal beauty in both the original grand works and those that have run or warped.
This is the ninth release of Catherine Lamb's work on Shefield’s Another Timbre. Since the early 2010’s the American composer now residing in Germany has released a total of eighteen albums. In the past, I’ve very much enjoyed her work- and I feel the same about this recent release, though it took a tad longer to click with me than some of her other work- as it’s such a dense, detailed, and shifting/ sliding work that need more than a few plays to fully make sense to me, but now it has it’s most certainly very spellbinding work- which I’ve often found myself replaying directly after finishing playing it.
The work was composed between 2018 & 2021- it lasts thirty-three minutes & twenty-four seconds and is presented here as twenty index points/ tracks- but it has to be played as a whole work.
The work is performed by Bern Switzerland’s Ensemble Proton- who for this recording is an eight-piece. Taking in the following Bettina Berger- Flute & Alto Flute. Martin Bliggernstorfer- Cor Anglais & Lupophone. Richard Hayes- Clarinet D’amore & Bass Clarinet. Elise Jacoberger- Bassoon & Contraforte. Vera Schnider- Triple Harp. Coco Schwrz- Arciorgano. Maximilian Haft- Volin. Jan-Flip Tupa-Violoncello.
As mentioned earlier this is an often thickly set work which often shifts in & out of the harmonic and non-harmonic- with its weaves of wind & string instrumentation. From time to time we’ll get a brief break in the flow of the work- for either new instrumentation joining or the ending of one tread/ beginning of the next. The whole thing has a very amorphous quilty- and even when you are fairly familiar with the work one still gets moments of wonderfully wrong-footedness.
I won’t go through, and point out particular moments or points in the piece- as I feel that will take away from the element of surprise and sonic exploration one goes on when playing it.
The CD album comes presented in the label’s minimal mini gatefold packaging- this includes inside a most informative/ interesting write-up from Lamb that discusses the influencers behind the work, and the trials & tribulations she had in creating it.
Curva Triangulus is a work you can well & truly get yourself lost in- if you enjoy modern ensemble composition that plays with pitch, tone, harmony & non-harmony this truly is a must. As I said early a truly spellbinding work…but do give it the time/patience it deserves.