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Scekic: Just Music on CD

On his debt release on Ravello Records, Croatian composer Zoran Scekic presents an open series of compositions aiming to explore the harmony of a non-tempered microtonal system based on integer harmonics, or just intonation. Performed by Croatian pianist Ana Zgur, the pieces on this album explore the use of intervals in five limit just intonation, a method in which intervals are built on the prime numbers 2, 3, and 5. Scekic's economical use of notes emphasizes the contrast between consonant and dissonant intervals in harmony and melody, chord inversions, and use of the syntonic comma. The beauty of his music is not only found in the mathematical structures imposed, but in the space between the notes and in the dynamic progression within the pieces. Works like 23.10 and strong man bring to mind Erik Satie's piano pieces, film music, and minimalism, while autumn fantasy of martin the mouse alternate between moments of powerful chords and wistful high notes, followed by sections of staccato phrases and swaying rhythmic material. Scekic masterfully crafts pieces that on the surface portray often lyrical, placid, and harmonic gestures, yet are richly calculated and complex in their construction