Extended Circular Music (2025)

music by Jürg Frey 

 

 

performed by Manuel Zurria

​

Prodotto da Fabio Carboni for Blüme Records

 

 

 

Side A (22’27”)
1 - String Quartet n.3 first part (2010-2014) (22’27”)

​

Side B (23’36”)
1 - String Quartet n.3 final part (2010-2014) (7’34”)

2 – Extended Circular Music #1 (2014) (3’30”)
3 – Extended Circular Music #2 (2014) (2’44”)
4 – Extended Circular Music #5 (2014) (4’36”)
5 – Extended Circular Music #6 (2014) (5’12”)

​

©Edition Wandelweiser
Recorded and mixed by M.Z.@BigCardo, Catania (2022-2024)
All arrangements by M.Z. under the supervision of Jürg Frey
All tracks performed by M.Z. with flutes, bottles, crystal glasses, harmonica, electronics

Mastering by Bruno Germano @Vacuumstudio, Bologna
Inside Photo by ©Ariele Zurria

​

​

At the beginning of composing of any piece, when it is not even clear whether it will become a piece at all, my notes, my melodies, can flow in all different directions. This process of great flexibility applies to everything: durations, registers, instruments... And this process accompanies me even when the piece has already taken on a clearer form. Many things are always possible. A melody for violin is rewritten for drums, a piano piece is reduced to a cello part or a clarinet melody is fanned out for string quartet. This is my way of composing, which likes to be seduced by detours and diversions. I have also occasionally applied this rethinking of music to existing pieces; my most adventurous transformation was probably that of guitar pieces into duos for trumpet and percussion. I think Manuel Zurria has taken on a similar adventure, transforming my music into something that at first you would think: forget it! But through patient trial and error and slow progress, the music is transformed. The sound has changed, the emotions are directed in other areas, even the spirit has changed. And the original remains in a constant dialogue with its transformation.

Jürg Frey

​

​

Jürg Frey's music has a thaumaturgic power. It makes me feel good and encourages me to keep going, to never have enough. In Extended Circular Music, I aimed to describe the state of the art, creating not a literal translation from the original, but a free interpretation inspired by the suggestions evoked by the music itself. Where the strings fall short, the flutes take on a rich, harmonic breeze. Where the hair crackles, there is an indefinable dust, more akin to light than sound. Kintsugi is a Japanese restoration technique that emphasizes imperfections rather than hiding them. Following this idea, I sought to transfer this crystalline music into an alternative timbral outfit, highlighting critical points to make them shine in their uniqueness. Eliminating all gestures and digressions, we thus enter this tunnel of wonders and allow ourselves to be carried away, fearlessly, by the noble art of Jürg Frey.

Manuel Zurria

​

​