A work for string and harmonica quartet, requiring the musicians to play harmonica and stringed instrument simultaneously. Ignoring for a moment the physical difficulty of the exercise to concentrate on the sound, we are confronted by a thick collection of tones and overtones mixing and/or bouncing off one another in unpredictable ways. Weird agglomerations of beat frequencies arise and rescind, and there is a continuous, subtle undercurrent of friction or perhaps an "undertone" throughout the entire piece.

There is a lot to pay attention to here, as each new set of tones enters and adds to the complexity of the overall sound, which seems to shift almost seismically at times. How can there be mass and fragility at the same time? Pull away and take in the entirety, or listen carefully to one hovering aspect, each approach has its rewards. It is never static.

The best thing I can think to write about this work is that I listened to it in my car over the course of a couple of days, not fully realizing that it was less than 30 minutes long. It seemed not to end, and I was quite happy with that. John Cage once said that when we call something beautiful, what we mean is that it holds our attention. I think this work surely qualifies. I shall return to it often, and I will seek out other work by the group.