This recital requires some explanation. The Bach items, stylishly and thoughtfully performed, are placed at intervals throughout the disc (the sonata movements separate, and in the "wrong" order), alternating with improvisations and collaborative compositions. The Sonata's finale is followed immediately by a Postludium in which Bach's motifs gradually degrade and fragment, and its third movement comes after a Prelude where the pervasive texture and figuration coalesce by degrees, coming fully into focus at the point where Giger/Dahler ceases and Bach begins.

The other "new" items are all extremely evocative, with some amazing, unusual sounds, especially from Paul Giger's violin and violino d'amore (with sympathetic strings, like a small viola d'amore) and from the prepared harpsichord that's used for Cemb a quattro. The first piece, From Silence to Silence, has the character of an alap (the introductory, unmeasured section of a classical Indian performance), but with long silent gaps between the phrases, as the title implies. One of the most striking pieces, Gliss a uno, consists of a single, slow tremolo glissando down the violin's G string, with bow pressure, speed and point of contact continually varied so as to pick up different harmonic resonances. All these pieces have stimulating ideas and developments but are generally quite thin in substance - the emphasis throughout is on sound and performance. A fascinating, thought-provoking disc, certainly - Im not sure how often I'll wish to return to it.