Anyone who has learned even a bit of German has enjoyed its lengthy compounds and its capacity for expansion by coining new ones. The Missing Words of Eric Nathan's composition recorded here are German words proposed by author Ben Schott in his 2014 book Schottenfreude: German Words for the Human Condition. These are a lot of fun in themselves, especially when taken to the extreme of Kraftfahrzeugzeugsinnenausstatungsneugeruchgenuss ("Automobile-Interior-Furnishing-Aroma-Pleasure"). Who has not experienced that? However, as Schott observes, "Schottenfreude exists because when English is exhausted, we turn to German. Missing Words exists because when words are exhausted, we turn to music." Nathan's illustrations of these, for various chamber ensembles, range from direct programmatic interpretation to abstract evocation, and the original item is, for the most part, readily recognizable. (Straußmanöver, Ostrich-Maneuver, is perhaps a bit more obscure). Several of the pieces refer to Beethoven in some way. Parts of this have been performed before, but another unique feature of Schott's work is that it may be performed whole or broken up into parts. This is the first complete recording, with the parts performed by different ensembles. That dents the acoustic consistency a bit, but even though 2022 is still a toddler at this writing, it's possible to say this is likely to be the most fun among the contemporary music recordings one hears from that year.