The self-proclaimed inventor of what he calls maximalism (i.e., music with a high variety of ideas in constant flux with minimal repetition), Florencio Asenjo relies on his intuition and aesthetic judgment to guide him, rather than on arbitrary systems or conventions. His accessible music has a direct impact, and it communicates emotion simply through a modernist but plainly tonal language. However, Asenjo's works may seem like medleys of spun-out material that could go on and on without restraints, and their apparent formlessness undercuts any clear sense of drama or transformation. In his rich Symphony for Strings (1948), Asenjo combines modal harmonies with dissonant counterpoint, and an elegiac mood colors all three movements, even when the music approaches something like vigorous activity in its final passages. Crystallizations: A Symphony in Nascent Estate (1987) is a cheerful but meandering piece that relies on imitative counterpoint as its mechanism, but the lack of hierarchies and transitions between episodes makes it seem sketchy for long stretches. The brief Concerto for Wind Instruments (1950) is similarly disjointed, but its pungent, neo-Classical color and occasional wit save it from being a pointless exercise. The Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra, conducted by
Kirk Trevor, is as engaged as this loosely crafted music allows, and MMC's recording is pleasant.