Fringe Zither

I will blame my current zither obsession on Martin Mallaun. Over a year ago I bumped into his first recording, zwischen steinen, and my eyes were opened to the greater possibilities of the instrument. Indeed, the title piece of that album electrifies me as much today as when I first heard it: deeply romantic in a progressively modern way.

Martin, who I actually met and had a couple of lessons with last week, is deeply passionate about new music for the instrument. Whereas his first recording played it safe with a combination of transcriptions of lute music (beautifully played!) and more conservative modern music, his new recording, Omonéro, boldly pushes the instrument to the fringe: unapologetically progressive, utilizing the full resources of the instrument in new ways, including percussive sounds and re-tuned strings for microtonal sounds.

If you expect your zither to play the Harry Lime Theme or a sweet Alpine Ländler, this is probably not the recording for you. If, on the other hand, you like texture and sound and are open to new ideas, this is a fascinating album. As is often the case with compendiums of avant-garde music, not all pieces are equally attractive, especially on first hearing. The challenge is to not let that which doesn't work for your ears at first hearing poison you for everything. All pieces on this recording are interesting and even instructive on the potentials of the instrument. Some pieces are more tonal, and therefore easily accessible, than others.

It is human nature to try to quickly assess what we like and don't like. This has always been the bane of progressive music: we jump to conclusions on whether we like it, or not. Yet, my experience has been that frequency of hearing has a great deal to do with what we like. Although not light listening, this collection grows on me. And, the sound colors and resonance from Martin's large zither can be intoxicating.

Sadly, access to this recording in North America is difficult, if not impossible. If there are any interested in acquiring it, contact me and I'll see what I can do. If you are open to new sounds and ideas, this could be just the CD for you.