With the resurgence of interest in the work of Harry Partch and other American composer-artists, it seems fitting to have the work of this unusual character come to the surface. Hungarian composer Király is one of those unique personages in modern music. He was an upholsterer who played guitar in the union band, a craftsman musician whose early experiences were to radically influence not only what he wrote, but how he played it and on what instruments. He was a collector of both instruments and folk songs, and finally, a craftsman who built his own instruments to make the music he heard but could not play.

These recordings are thrilling. Their use of unusual tonalities and shapes, their defiant charm and aggressive beauty are a world apart from some of his contemporaries in the 40s, 50s and 60s in both Eastern Europe and America. His tools are tape loops and analog electronics, zithers with whirring wheels, tables of small objects that can be manipulated by multiple players, rooted in traditional instruments like the cymbalom, but geared for more adventurous music. The CD consists of both solo and ensemble pieces that range from gentle ambiance to metaphorical chaos. - Cliff Furnald

See also: RootsWorld's Hungarian Reviews

Hollow Ear copyright 1997 Cliff Furnald/RootsWorld