Les Duresses emerges through a prism of speculative intonation. Marc Sabat uncovers an opening of tonal possibilities that he roots in an unfinished composition for solo violin by Morton Feldman. From its enigmatic notation and the conceptual tendencies expressed by Feldman, Sabat determines that the fragment is written in an alternate tonal space. Throughout Les Duresses, this space is given shape and consideration. Sabat draws on a sound world, not from Feldman, but like Feldman, that invites listeners to absorb themselves in longer durations where patterns can unfold. It comes from an imaginary American folk music, full of meandering, drifting, and at times, exuberance. By extending into the upper reaches of a sound's harmonic spectrum, the music traces various points of convergence where it can be heard belonging to a number of tonal centers. For listeners, the inertia of this choice extends into the sounding surface, not merely as a projection of compositional gestures. It gives Les Duresses an almost optical or holographic veneer.
