When I wrote my enthusiastic review of Daniel Panner’s performance at the first Fromm Concert Series on February 21, I should have mentioned, that the other great violist of our time, Garth Knox, was performing in the very same hall just one week prior to the Fromm concert.

Knox, who was invited by the Harvard Group for New Music, performed a stunning program with pieces by Tolga Yayalar, Dominique Schafer, Bert van Herck, and Jean-Francois Charles amongst others.

One of the pieces that struck me most during the performance was “Catalyst” by the Mexican composer Edgar Barroso. “Catalyst” is a very energetic piece that employs a wide variety of sounds and engages the performer not only in traditional playing techniques but also in an activity that is best described as “air fencing!” As you will hear in the free recording that you can download from the composer’s website, at some point during the piece the performer is wildly batting around with his bow (starting at 1:35), creating a sharp zipping sound that contrasts nicely with the whorled crawling of Knox’s fingers on the fretboard.

If you like the piece as much as I do, take a moment to browse the multimedia page on Barroso’s website which contains videos as well as free mp3s of his fabulous music.