Helen Bledsoe, Dirk Rothbrust, Mats Bergström, Garth Knox - Marcus Antonius Wesselmann: Solo Works I (2018)

The repertoire on this 2SACD set is focused on the unaccompanied solo pieces by Marcus Antonius Wesselmann, performed by various artists including Helen Bledsoe, Dirk Rothbrust, Mats Bergstrom and Garth Knox.

Wesselmann, who lives in Cologne, has consistently explored the possibilities of various ensemble types and sizes in a body of work that has grown steadily over the past thirty years. Alongside a series of ensemble works, he has repeatedly written solo pieces for various instruments, so that today there is a nearly equal balance in his works catalogue between ensemble and solo compositions.

With the exception of the piano works (SOLOS 5, 6, 7, 9, 14 and 16), Wesselmann has used a different instrumentation for each work on the album including flute, percussion, electric guitar, viola, baritone saxophone and bassoon.

"In the Mix", composed in 1991, stands somewhat apart from the series of works introduced on this CD, for this composition for two-channel tape requires no performing soloist. Wesselmann is essentially concerned here according to his own formulation of the basic idea of the piece with the "connection and/or mediation of musical and scenic sequences".