Terrain
Of all these pieces – none of which places anything less than cruel demands on the soloists – Terrain is the most wildly virtuosic. Here, Paganini has to rise from the grave, reincarnated (initially via Irvine Arditti) as a transcendental modernist. From the very first bar, the violin part is electrifying, both in its difficulty and its intensity. At the same time, it is set against an ensemble which, far from offering support, is its very antithesis. The latter consists of the eight instruments (flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn, trumpet, trombone and double bass) of Edgard Varèse’s Octandre, which Ferneyhough cites as ensuring that “composing became my definitive goal in life”. (Richard Toop)
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