Haas: Wer, wenn ich schriee, hörte mich ...; ... aus freier Lust ... verbunden ...; ... und ...

Spectralism is generally thought of as a predominantly French movement, pioneered by composers such as Grisey and Murail. But the Austrian, Georg Friedrich Haas (born in 1953), developed his own brand of spectral organisation, apparently independently, using the later works of Ligeti as one of his starting points. The three substantial pieces here, composed over the last 15 years, show how powerfully original and satisfying Haas's music can be. The earliest, and the shortest, is ... aus freier Lust ... verbunden ... (from free desire ... connected), for bass clarinet, bass flute and two percussionists, which derives from a kit-like piece in which any of the 10 instrumental parts can be played separately or in combination; the most recent and the longest is ... und ..., for chamber ensemble and electronics, in which live and processed sounds create the same kinds of slowly shifting harmonic webs, often rising to a cataclysmic climax, that are found in Wer, wenn ich schriee, from 1999. XXXXXX is an easy piece to get to grips with, but the writing is remarkably assured, and full of wonderfully detailed musical events.