Country : The Netherlands / United States Label : Neuma Genres and styles : Contemporary / Minimalist Year : 2025

Hypercube – The Force for Good

· by Frédéric Cardin

Why the music of the excellent Dutch minimalist Louis Andriessen isn’t played more often on our stages is beyond me. Of course, we can fall back on good recordings, but even so, they’re not that frequent, compared with the American equivalents Glass and Reich. Yet Andriessen is one of the most influential and unique composers of the 20th (and early 21st) century. His opera De Staat is a masterpiece.

That said, although this Neuma release won’t fill you up completely, you can still soak your ears for a good ten minutes with Hout (Wood), a landmark piece from 1991 for an unusual quartet: saxophone, electric guitar, piano and percussion. Hout is an exceptional test of collective coordination. The performers play the same melodic lines at sixteenth-note intervals from each other (in a ‘tight canon’). Needless to say, you have to be dead on beat and ferociously concentrated. Like Steve Reich, but more urgent. Fantastic reading by Hypercube quartet.

The other piece on the programme is by Michael Friday, a composer who studied with Andriessen. The Force for Good is a set of variations on Coltrane’s Giant Steps, written for the same instrumental ensemble. Friday’s music is reminiscent of jazz (however just a little), but much more of his mentor’s music, through the use of a pulsating rhythmic energy that is much more choppy, less linear and operating in highly contrasting dynamic episodes that sometimes follow one another in violent succession. Friday’s chromaticism is also more modern than Andriessen’s in Hout. A tribute to two seemingly disparate figures in 20th-century music that holds together skilfully.

Hypercube’s four musicians are to be commended for their impressive individual and collective musicianship.

This album is a delight, but at less than thirty minutes of music, it is too short.

Hypercube was in Montreal for a concert on April 30, read my review

Hypercube: 

Erin Rogers, tenor saxophone 

Jay Sorce, electric guitar 

Andrea Lodge, piano 

Chris Graham, percussion

Latest 360 Content

Vancouver Contemporary Orchestra; Vancouver Chamber Choir – Christopher Tyler Nickel : Mass; Te Deum

Vancouver Contemporary Orchestra; Vancouver Chamber Choir – Christopher Tyler Nickel : Mass; Te Deum

Hypercube – The Force for Good

Hypercube – The Force for Good

PUP – Who Will Look After the Dogs?

PUP – Who Will Look After the Dogs?

Duo AYA – Cycles

Duo AYA – Cycles

Papillon Social Club – Dur de la feuille

Papillon Social Club – Dur de la feuille

Coalescent Quartet – The Wall Between Us

Coalescent Quartet – The Wall Between Us

Samuel Bonnet Trio – Live in Harmony

Samuel Bonnet Trio – Live in Harmony

Marc-André Hamelin; Quatuor Takacs – Dvořák & Price : Piano Quintets

Marc-André Hamelin; Quatuor Takacs – Dvořák & Price : Piano Quintets

Oktopus – Brahms, Balkans & Bagels

Oktopus – Brahms, Balkans & Bagels

OCM: Bernstein and his “Side stories” in the spotlight

OCM: Bernstein and his “Side stories” in the spotlight

Abracadabra! Klô Pelgag is Back

Abracadabra! Klô Pelgag is Back

Constantinople – Nordic Lights in Persian Sky

Constantinople – Nordic Lights in Persian Sky

Salin – Rammana

Salin – Rammana

Real Farmer – RF II

Real Farmer – RF II

Syncopation & Synergy: Karneef’s jazz fusion meshes with Rapallo’s corporate yacht pop

Syncopation & Synergy: Karneef’s jazz fusion meshes with Rapallo’s corporate yacht pop

Classica 2025 Presented by Marc Boucher: The Art of The Piano with Serhiy Salov and Jean-Philippe Sylvestre

Classica 2025 Presented by Marc Boucher: The Art of The Piano with Serhiy Salov and Jean-Philippe Sylvestre

Classica 2025 Presented by Marc Boucher: Women’s Cellos

Classica 2025 Presented by Marc Boucher: Women’s Cellos

Classica 2025 presented by Marc Boucher: The Köln Concert String Quartet

Classica 2025 presented by Marc Boucher: The Köln Concert String Quartet

Spółdzielnia Muzyczna Contemporary Ensemble / Zygmunt Krauze – Konteksty

Spółdzielnia Muzyczna Contemporary Ensemble / Zygmunt Krauze – Konteksty

dope.gng – Fiend II

dope.gng – Fiend II

Bells Larsen – Blurring Time

Bells Larsen – Blurring Time

Viagra Boys – viagr aboys

Viagra Boys – viagr aboys

Le Vivier: many skills, few surprises

Le Vivier: many skills, few surprises

SAT’s Substrat Sound Series: IRLʼs soundscapes

SAT’s Substrat Sound Series: IRLʼs soundscapes

Subscribe to our newsletter