Georg Friedrich Haas is regarded as today’s foremost proponent of microtonal composition. But it is precisely these three works - Ein Schattenspiel, the String Quartets nos. 4 and 7 - that show that Haas is actually less immersed in his musical material.

Instead, he concentrates on the communicative aspects of music and composition, so as to greatly unsettle and even shock the listener’s perception. Of course, microtonality and composition that makes use of the overtone series and overtone chords presents a challenge to the listener accustomed to a more conventional, traditional harmony. But Haas’ composition focusses more on the physical experience of this kind of music.

It would not be completely inaccurate to speak of a musical aesthetic that seeks to bombard the senses into submission, where the pulsing beats inherent in the overtones and microtonality amalgamate to a roar and thunder roll of noise. And to take the idea of overwhelming the senses one step further, this music acts like a drug and induces a state of oblivion.

The connection between the three works on this CD is the use of live electronics. It creates something like an “acoustic shadow”, in which the music is played again with a time delay - accelerated slightly in Ein Schattenspiel and thus a quarter tone higher than the original that was just heard.

Together with the SWR Experimental Studio, Sophie-Mayuko Vetter (piano) and the Arditti Quartet present exemplary first recordings.