James Wood - Stoicheia (1990)

Percussion and electronics aplenty from English composer James Wood (b. 1953).  Finished in 1988, Stoicheia ('elements', 'fundamental principles') works its way up from the ground - literally, using stones, glass, metals, wood, bamboo etc - all the way to vocal phonemes and electronic manipulation, "the indigenous sounds of the 20th century", as Wood puts it here.  The signs of the zodiac are also involved in determining the placement of the performing groups and how they interact.

The result is a highly listenable and engrossing hour of shifting sounds and subtleties, like a more understated version of Xenakis works like Pléiades, Psappha, and Persephassa.  Definitely one for headphones, turned up loud.

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