Country : United States Label : Telegraph Harp Genres and styles : Contemporary Year : 2020

Tocsin

· by Steve Naud

Like Sam Pluta and Mario Diaz de Leon, Patrick Higgins is part of a new generation of contemporary music creators who have been nourished as much by the works of classical composers as by rock, electronica, and noise music. He also acts as a record producer, in addition to playing electric guitar in the avant-garde rock band Zs. TOCSIN, his new album, features three of his most recent compositions for chamber-music ensembles.

The disc opens with QS3, which, as the title suggests, is Higgins’ third string quartet. Played by the renowned Mivos Quartet, this work in three movements evokes the worlds created by musicians such as Iannis Xenakis, Krzysztof Penderecki, and Luigi Nono, locating the work in the midst of European post-serialism. However, other influences are emerging, especially in the more tumultuous passages that are close to the most caustic noise music.

The work that gives the album its title is even more fascinating. It is a creation for an atypical group: two cellists (Mariel Roberts and Brian Snow) and the excellent Canadian pianist Vicky Chow playing a prepared instrument here. Higgins deploys an extremely wide range of tonal possibilities, using variations in tempo, timbre and intensity. 

The next two pieces are shorter in duration. First, “Emptyset [0,0]” is a composition for eight players, performed by the Wet Ink Ensemble, in which Higgins ventures into more rhythmic territory. Then he concludes with a brilliant arrangement for string quartet of the last part of Johann Sebastian Bach’s Art of Fugue, which is given a very modern harshness.

Latest 360 Content

Suoni: The Spiritual Quest, The End in Transcendence

Suoni: The Spiritual Quest, The End in Transcendence

FIJM | Thundercat, A Feline on The Loose

FIJM | Thundercat, A Feline on The Loose

FIJM | Bill Frisell, Thomas Morgan and Rudy Royston Exposed

FIJM | Bill Frisell, Thomas Morgan and Rudy Royston Exposed

FIJM | Branford Marsalis Among Four MF’s Playin’ Tunes… Live!

FIJM | Branford Marsalis Among Four MF’s Playin’ Tunes… Live!

FIJM | About Derrick Hodge’s Idea of the Color of Noize

FIJM | About Derrick Hodge’s Idea of the Color of Noize

FIJM | Queen of Afrobeats, Ayra confirms her status as a Global… Starr

FIJM | Queen of Afrobeats, Ayra confirms her status as a Global… Starr

FIJM | Black Jazz by Marquis Hill

FIJM | Black Jazz by Marquis Hill

Festival de Lanaudière | Leonardo Garcia Alarcon/Monteverdi’s Coronation of Poppea: being marketwise

Festival de Lanaudière | Leonardo Garcia Alarcon/Monteverdi’s Coronation of Poppea: being marketwise

FIJM | Nate Smith and his Supremely Talented Quartet

FIJM | Nate Smith and his Supremely Talented Quartet

Nuits d’Afrique 2025 | Tyrane Mondeny Presents Her Mandingo Soul

Nuits d’Afrique 2025 | Tyrane Mondeny Presents Her Mandingo Soul

FIJM | Nai Palm? Creature of Exception! Hawa B? Future Star!

FIJM | Nai Palm? Creature of Exception! Hawa B? Future Star!

FIJM 2025 | Funky funky, Trombone Shorty

FIJM 2025 | Funky funky, Trombone Shorty

FIJM | Nubya Garcia Becomes a Star in MTL

FIJM | Nubya Garcia Becomes a Star in MTL

FIJM 2025 | Symphonic Avishai Cohen: Bewitching magic

FIJM 2025 | Symphonic Avishai Cohen: Bewitching magic

King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard – Phantom Island

King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard – Phantom Island

Common Holly – Anything glass

Common Holly – Anything glass

FIJM I Hanorah Sets the TD Stage Ablaze with Soulful R&B

FIJM I Hanorah Sets the TD Stage Ablaze with Soulful R&B

FIJM | Jeff Goldblum: Storyteller, Comedian and Pianist

FIJM | Jeff Goldblum: Storyteller, Comedian and Pianist

FIJM I Still Taking Us There, Mavis Staples Electrifies Montreal JazzFest

FIJM I Still Taking Us There, Mavis Staples Electrifies Montreal JazzFest

FIJM | Gabriella Olivo, Musical Journey in Three Languages

FIJM | Gabriella Olivo, Musical Journey in Three Languages

FIJM | Orchestre Tout Puissant Marcel Duchamp – Ventre Unique

FIJM | Orchestre Tout Puissant Marcel Duchamp – Ventre Unique

Fantastic Negrito – Son of A Broken Man

Fantastic Negrito – Son of A Broken Man

Cumbia, Chaos, and Resistance: Empanadas Illegales Bring the Heat to Montreal Jazz Fest

Cumbia, Chaos, and Resistance: Empanadas Illegales Bring the Heat to Montreal Jazz Fest

Turnstile – Never Enough

Turnstile – Never Enough

Subscribe to our newsletter