Commissioned Music

Blixa’s first solo album collects material he’d composed for two projects in 1994 – Uli M. Schüppel’s film, Jahre Der Kälte/Frozen Stories, and Bernard-Marie Koltès’s play, Dumpfe Stimmen/Des Voix Sourdes (which translates to Dull Voices). The music’s functionality determines some of its sound and structure – the material here is pared-back, sparely scored – but it’s also, often, gorgeous. The Dumpfe Stimmen compositions tend to set two phenomena in contrast, the dominant force often a low bass tone or a clanging guitar drone, but Bargeld’s sense of pacing and careful juxtaposition works beautifully, and in amongst everything, there’s a stark, surprisingly moving version of “Somewhere Over The Rainbow.” The Jahre Der Kälte material quotes from Schubert; graceful and dourly paced, it’s never less than compelling, and an album of such piano and strings compositions from Bargeld would be welcome.