Pre-hearing

"One could make an interesting comparison between Lachenmann's Accanto and Lazkano's Ortzi Isilak as being symbolic of two eras that enjoyed two very different relationships with sound. Lazkano does not take up the strict categorization of Lachenmann's "musique concrète instrumentale"--instead, the breathing sounds, crackling and creaking are used simply to keep the music from slipping into sounding too "beautiful.""

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Ramon Lazkano's Lurralde (Territory), for the Diotima Quartet, was premiered last month at Ars Musica in Brussels, Belgium, European Union. It will be performed in Washington, D.C., tonight, at the Embassy of France.