The title of the 2009 CD by the Italian new music ensemble
Piccola Accademia degli Specchi,
Minimamachta, is described as "the latinization of a German philosophic term that could be translated as 'little powers' or 'small works.'" The group applies it here to various minimalist and post-minimalist pieces, by
Philip Glass, Dutch composer
Wim Mertens, and
Matteo Sommacal, the ensemble's arranger. The juxtaposition of these works by a master of the form, one of his earliest disciples, and a previously un-recorded composer, glaringly points up the level of inspiration and expertise behind each of the pieces.
Glass' works stand out for their miraculous sense of balance and control, and for their elegant simplicity.
Mertens clearly has a vision that differs from
Glass', but his works, while well constructed, lack both purposefulness and
Glass' astute management of the proportions of a piece in relation to its material. The works by
Sommacal are mostly attractive, but sound like they are by someone who has learned to imitate the surface elements of minimalism without a real understanding of its underlying structures. The performances by
Piccola Accademia degli Specchi, led by
Giovanni Rosati, are clean and spirited; this is obviously a group that knows how to pull off this deceptively difficult repertoire. Sommacal's arrangements are effective and simple, for instance, doubling an inner line of a
Glass piano piece with a single instrument. Centaur's sound is clear and balanced. This is by no means a revelatory recording, but it could appeal to fans of minimalism and post-minimalism looking for new interpretations of some of the classic literature, and new works that inhabit a similar soundworld.