Linda Catlin Smith — Flowers Of Emptiness

Flowers Of Emptiness brings together eight modern chamber pieces from Canadian composer Linda Catlin Smith. All of the works are delicate and often sparse affairs, which move with fraught, felt, and glum melodies- with the whole lot being played by the highly respected modern ensemble Apartment House.

The CD release appears on Sheffield’s Another Timbre- been presented in the label house style spare white mini white gatefold sleeve, which features a busy black-tailed dash, red point haze blur, and watery blue dart-based artwork.

The eight tracks featured date from between the eighties and mid twenty twenties- with runtimes from three and nine minutes. We move from uncertain dwell,  swell, and pick string quartet focused “Waterlily” with its tones moving between the harmonical rising and lightly angularly forlorn. Onto the title track- which is for a string trio- and is built around gently bowing & sawing string work, which sits both in the glum bass bound & seesawing mid to highs.

Moving on we have “Das Rosen- Innere” which is a cello and piano piece built around a steady key cascade and broodingly string bay/ drone. Through the piping, glum wondering and sudden swoon/ glide of “Nightshade” for clarinet, violin, cello, and double bass. The album plays out with “String Quartet” with its graceful if sad swoon, daring bright glides, and bitter-sweet dwells/ shrill drifts.

As a release Flowers Of Emptiness cements Ms Catlin Smith's place as a great modern classical composer- with the pieces managing to blend grace, sad wonder, and moodiness- with it all played with great depth/ clarity by Apartment House