Cantus (from Corps Exquis) (2012)

"Cantus" meanwhile, opens on a gently piling snowdrift of strings, all bowing in different pattern to create a gorgeously featureless expanse similar to Arvo Pärt's Fratres For Eight Cellos. Slowly, other noises creep into the frame-- a sharp, stabbing cello sound, some hollow rattles, like bottles being racked up at a bar counter. The piece dissolves, near the end, into a distressed racket of competing cries from all players, but Wohl leaves us with a contemplatively cool sound in its last seconds, a small sigh. In each piece, clamor briefly overwhelms serenity, but each time, clamor loses.