Violin and Viola Suites No.1-No.7

And you thought you had Koji Asano pegged down as a computer music-maker whose long electro-acoustic pieces are particularly difficult to listen to. And then he throws this curve ball, a collection of delicate, pretty suites for violin and viola — no computer trickery, no harsh effects, just well-written duets. Of course, going back to the man's previous 40 albums, one finds a handful of titles for acoustic instruments scattered across his discography. Asano's last acoustic release was 2003's Piano Suite No. 1 — and the last time he released string music was on 1999's Flow-Augment (for string quartet and two pianos). The first suite on Violin and Viola Suites No.1-No.7, subtitled "Hollersbach," was written during the Mittersill Composers Forum in 2004. The other six suites seem to derive from the first one. Without being variations, they clearly result from a single compositional drive. As usual with Asano, specific influences are difficult to pinpoint. The composer seems to have absorbed a large chunk of modern classical history, from Stravinsky to the neo-classicals. Most of the music remains very tonal, without putting a lot of emphasis on melody. Dissonances are cleverly used in vehement passages, and there are a lot of contrasts built between these and a form of lyricism fans of Asano will recognize as his own. Overall, what strikes in these Violin and Viola Suites is the apparent simplicity of the music arising from structures that might be more complex than it looks. In fact, the more you listen to these pieces, the more you think of Bach. Kumi Nakajima and Masashi Sasaki put a lot of conviction in their performances, especially in "Suite No. 3" and "Suite No. 6." By default, this is one of Asano's easiest albums to listen to. ~ François Couture, Rovi