14 Marquez BarriosVictor Marquez-Barrios – The Moments Between
Various Artists
Blue Griffin BGR651 (bluegriffin.com/cd-catalog/p/the-moments-between-victor-marquez-barrios?rq=the%20moments%20betw)

I like a disc that neither clamours for your attention nor sends you out of the room seeking peace. Therefore, I like the music of Victor Marquez-Barrios as represented here on The Moments Between, although I exclude, for private reasons, the opening and title track for soprano and bass clarinets. I have grown allergic to the sound of my own instrument, even while I recognize the two performers, Jesse Krebs and Xin Gao, are just fine. Once past my own pain, I truly enjoy the diverse chamber works of the collection. The titles date from 2000 through 2022, so all fairly recent. Marquez-Barrios has a great understanding of a range of instruments, and demonstrates his own prowess on guitar on Introspección, a duet with cello, here played with poise and aplomb by Yolena Orea.

Other instruments, all played so well, but too many to note every name: flugelhorn, trombone, vibes, saxophone, string quartet and English horn, played by Elaine Aubuchon who gets special mention because she’s darned good and I especially liked Waltz for Kyle (2022). 

It would be fair to classify the composer as neo-Romantic if such designations still have meaning. Post-modernism allows artists to simply do what comes, I think, and only when they seem driven by an agenda beyond expressing their own ideas and voice and calling do I close up my ears and move on. The last cut on the disc, The Visitor (2022), is a collaborative work, Rafael Vera sharing writing credits. Perhaps that explains why it is the most overtly “contemporary” or exploratory (or, depending on your taste, the most difficult).

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