Edit Point and Sound Lab

Sound Lab has been working steadily at developing opportunities for new composers working in the electro-acoustic arena: sitting between the rigour of classical composition and the infinite potential of the modern machine, their events cultivate emerging artists and the hook up with Edit-Point (Timothy Cooper, Matthew Whiteside and Nicholas Virgis) is a comfortable fit. Taking a closer look at the way the violin and viola interacts with electronics, the programme goes back to Ligeti, a pioneer of experimental composition, and towards the future with two world premieres from Michael Cutting and Gordon McPherson.

String Factory, from Ed Bennett, begins the evening and sets out a clear agenda:  Kay Stephen sets her live violin part against precorded violins. While Reich has used similar techniques to emphasis the pounding energy of minimal grooves, Bennett makes a case for composition as a reflection of a very contemporary isolation. The broken sounds of the violin encase Stephen within a ricocheting racket of noise, disorientating and brutal: her playing is all-too-human, vulnerable and ultimately lyrical.

Next up, Shimmering is a melancholic and episodic reflection on light playing across water - more gentle than String Factory, it harks back to the romantic era, without losing the more modern enthusiasm for eastern  melody. Meditative and calming, despite occasional pizzicato attacks, composer Timothy Cooper combines a sensitivity to elegance with an ear for the exotic.

After the interval, Ligeti's Sonata is an almost deceptive introduction to the second half: against McPherson's Lamenta Infracta, it sounds traditional and ponderous. For McPherson, the technology is all about liberating sound from the limitations of the human player - the subtitle, Stunt Double reveals his intentions. A synthesized version of the instrument plays along, echoing and illustrating Stephen and deepening the sound with languorous additions and chiming notes.

It makes a perfect seque into the finale,  Kaija Saariaho's Vent Nocturne, an almost apocalyptic vision that slides between violence and reflective interludes.

Edit-Point's programme makes a series of bold claims: placing electro-acoustic music firmly in the classical tradition - no tacky nods to dance music here - it suggests that it is capable of addressing contemporary concerns without ignoring the past. The electronics provide the depth equally available through acoustic instruments, but offers a different sort of bed. Not always comfortable, often bracing but ever emotive, the connection between human and machine is imagined as battle and collaboration.

If there is a trend for composition to chase increasingly obscure strategies, these selections balance between accessible and challenging: the lessons of serialism are present, but alongside a respect for older faith in melody. The booming ferocity of much minimalism has been replaced by a more nuanced use of electronic possibilities. Yet at the centre, Stephen's virtuosity brings soul to the mechanical roar and hum.

Recital Room, City Halls

April 17th 2013, 7.30pm