Ex Patris

NEW AGE MINIMALISM — SOLO LUTE. Van Wissam plays his own compositions on a newly constructed Baroque-style lute. The instrument has a lovely, bright sound somewhat like a dulcimer. Think of a finger-style folk guitarist thumbing a slow bass-line and picking arpeggios on the tremble strings (e.g. Travis style); now imagine the guitar’s got 13 strings. The similarity of the pieces makes rating them difficult; you may just choose by length.

All instrumental. No FCC issues.

1 Mid-tempo. Four-bar cycle with metronomic regularity. Not very interesting. (6:03)
2 Mid-tempo. A repeated figure as in track #1, but more varied. He uses a hard attack to accent certain notes (both on bass & treble) to make it interesting. (10:44)
3 * Mid-slow. A few bars repeated over and over. Some interesting effects include harmonics & long sustain. (3:23)
4 ** Mid-fast. Far the most pleasing and interesting piece. A folk-ish feel with nice melodies in counterpoint. (13:29)
5 Mid-tempo. Sounds like a warm-up exercise. (2:28)
6 * Slow, melancholy. Bass line & arpeggios, but enough variation to be compelling. (8:17)