“Stillness” is the result of a close collaboration between composer Aurélien Dumont and Ensemble Linea, along with its director, Jean-Philippe Wurtz. As well as bringing together works written for small ensembles, from the quartet to the sextet, the choice of programme emphasises a particular aspect of Dumont’s music: a tension between the permanent and the ephemeral.

The five pieces featured on the CD were conceived as five soundscapes comprising fragile and mysterious materials. Their structures were inspired by the Japanese concept of Tokowaka, mirroring the identical construction and deconstruction of the Shinto temples at regular intervals and for more than 1300 years. This process, as reflected in Dumont’s mesmerizing music, is a means of fusing the infinite with the transient; movement with fixed elements; consistency with difference.

Works featured on the disc include Fiocchi di silenzio, a short and intimate three-voice dialogue between silence, delicate materials, and elements taken from Gabrieli’s motet, O magnum mysterium. Berceuse et des poussières explores noisy musical combinations which find their origin in the first movement of Beethoven’s Third Piano Concerto. In Sérieux Gravats, we can hear reminiscences of the prélude Ondine by Debussy, the composer who most influences Dumont’s style. 7 Vallées, in its aesthetic approach to sound design, explores minimalist sonorities which echo both our inner worlds, and our relationships with the outside world.

Founded in Strasbourg by pianist and conductor Jean-Philippe Wurtz in 1998, Ensemble Linea has much in common with the Odradek ethos: since its beginnings, the group has been committed to promoting a democratisation of contemporary music, giving priority to the encounter with the audience, and to openness towards other artistic disciplines.