There's no two ways about it: a triple CD, with a running time of almost three hours, this is a bit of a slog. Not that I'm doing down what Kenneth Kirschner is attempting to achieve with this truly remarkable sonic document. Make no mistake, this is music as art, with a strong emphasis on the conceptual element of the composition.
Each of Kirschner's pieces – they're not songs by any stretch of the imagination, and 'tracks' simply doesn't begin to describe these measured aural explorations, which forge microcosmic worlds in their own right – is named after the date on which they were started.
Disc one contains two pieces – January 4, 2011 (Kirschner's most recent released composition) and 'November 7, 2010 – that explore in the minutest of detail an array of nuanced textures, microtonal relationships and harmonic balances, and utilise metallophones and xylophones to create music as minimal as is conceivable. Stretching out for over an hour, these compositions test the listener's hearing and patience.
Discs two and three contain just one track apiece. The former contains the 47-minute 'September 25, 2010', which features as much silence as it does sound. Indeed, I read with interest – and bewilderment – that this composition for strings, woodwinds and horns comprises 142 different chords which 'float in a sea of silence with no repetitions and no recurrences'. This exploration of audio permutations is indicative of an obsessive, not to mention near scientific approach to music making, and yet Kirschner creates works which are warm and organic, despite the meticulous and measured methodology behind their creation. There's a building tension and drama some time after the half hour mark, but the endless chord / silence approach isn't especially engaging after such a protracted duration.
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Kirschner's technicality and clinicality is as admirable as it is undeniable, and 'Twenty ten' is an album that is all about the minutest of details. However, in terms of listenability, 'Twenty Ten' doesn't so much push the boundaries as venture a few thousand miles beyond them. Conceptually, it's interesting, but musically, even when taken a disc at a time, it's just rather dull.
Kenneth Kirschner Online
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