ANNA THORVALDSDOTTIR

Spektral Quartet Sono Luminus DSL-92250 (reviewed in 24/352.8 stereo WAV). 2021. Dan Merceruio, prod.; Daniel Shores, eng.

PERFORMANCE

SONICS

The aborted premiere of (2019), is a case of music that upends being upended by the unexpected. Commissioned by the thrice Grammy–nominated Spektral Quartet, the 28-minute was on course for performance at Carnegie Hall and on a National Planetarium 360°-immersion video tour when the pandemic went viral. Instead of touring, the Spektrals recorded the work within Sono Luminus’s studio, a stone church whose spacious acoustic is magnified here by amplification and artificial reverb that Thorvaldsdottir hoped would create a “warm resonating sound.”