Celer, Cantus Libres (2 CDR self-released)

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Though they only started releasing music in 2004, this husband and wife duo of multidisciplinarians has been so prolific, and are so obviously talented and imaginative, that it has quickly garned respect and admiration from all corners of the ambient listening (and performing) community. Note for instance the shift in their discography from mainly self-released items to the plethora of labels - mostly musician-run - now lining up to release their work.

Cantus Libres from 2007 is one of those self-releases, consisting of a series of "free" interpretations of Estonian composer Arvo Pärt´s "Cantus in Memoriam Benjamin Britten", each one far longer than the original few, breathtaking minutes.

Using the same form of surge-and-cascade execution as Pärt, the first track is quite faithful to the original, opening with exquisitely graceful violins in the highest register which dance slowly downward, while another mass of strings surges over them along a more level plane, nearly obscuring them in flow, re-revealing their continued descent in ebb.

The second and all subsequent tracks over the two discs continues the theme but varies the surging wave and/or cascading rain of strings – contrasting them with elongated silences, turning them slightly more dissonant, bringing them slightly closer, sending them slightly further away.

Moreover, Danielle Baquet-Long and Will Long seem to embrace Pärt´s unique "tintinnabulist" composition technique, thinking in terms of bell-like notes each allowed to stand and quaver before striking the next.

With slight shifts in angle and momentum, they turn each individual variation into a different drama.

All of which shimmer stunningly.

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