The Harmonics of Real Strings by composer John Lely and cellist Anton Lukoszevieze is a meditative yet adventurous expedition into the nature of the cello. It is highly experimental and process oriented, almost to the point of being a scientific experiment, yet remains easy on the ear throughout.
Technically, the piece is very simple. The cello has four strings. Each movement is simply a slow journey, from the low, open string, up through the harmonics produced by lightly pressing the strings as one bows. In other words, this piece is so minimalist, that each movement is not simply for solo cello, but for a single solo string. In this sense, the album translates the cello on a more naked and intimate level than virtually any other recording. Interestingly, exposed in this manner, the sound is surprisingly metallic in quality; not unpleasant, mind you, but somewhat machine-like. The cello is generally associated with rich, emotional timbres, but pulled away from melodic material, we are reminded of what a cello actually is: four tightly stretched steel cords.
With this composition, Lely is playing more with negative space than additive construction. Lely has taken conventional composition and ripped away all but the fundamental aspects of acoustic resonance. We hear the clear-tone of harmonic pitches, the breathy sound of the bow gliding across the strings, the thick, yet somehow empty sounds which are produced in between harmonics, and the rich echo of the room in which the piece was recorded.
You could call this album an exploration of the harmonic series on cello. The listener is given a doorway into the nature of cello, and sound itself, prior to conventional composition.
The end result is a wonderful ambient experience. It functions both as a quiet mediation, suitable as background for inward study and a probing study of the instrument. This recording is highly recommended for anyone enraptured by sound itself.
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