Hungarian Tibor Szemzo is an anomaly among late century composers of "new" music. Most of his work is gentle, filling space with sonority and silence. He also uses written text that is usually spoken though sometimes sung, and he focuses deeply on suffering and transformation. His works use chamber instruments and taped soundscapes that he pastes together himself. Drones and a "traditional" sense of melody are also important factors in his numerous works. On Tractatus, he uses the texts of linguist, philosopher, and humanist Ludwig Wittgenstein for his catalyst. He uses seven narrators of these texts in languages as diverse as Japanese to Spanish and Czech, as well as English. One small melodic line is hummed over and over, hypnotically, as a bass plays a series of notes in harmony; sound effects boxes gently fill the ambient space and the narrators take their turns with these texts: "There is indeed the inexpressible. This shows itself; it is the mystical." "No cry of torment can be greater than the cry of one man," and so on. There are a finite number of aphorisms offered here, and they are not spoken in tandem with one another, leaving room for them to float over this simple structure and meditatively encounter the listener. A short, minimalist piano phrase appears mysteriously near the work's end and disappears just as randomly before transforming itself every few measures into a classical theme from antiquity until the end. It took over four years to assemble the pieces for this recording, and like the work of Gavin Bryars or Wolfgang Rihm, Szemzo has no reason to bombastically reach for the stars or obliterate the mind of the listener with ideas too dense to take in one setting. He whispers his sophistication in plain speak, allowing for sound itself to make its way into the human heart. ~ Thom Jurek, Rovi

1		Nem Lehet Veszsikoly Nagyobb, Mint Egyetlen Embere
2		Der Gegenstand Ist Einfach
3		What Is Thinkable Is Also Possible
4		To, Co Mozno Ukazat
5		World and Life Sheds Is a Beautiful Light
6		That the Sun Will Rise to-Morrow, Is an Hythesis;
7		To, Co Povazujes Za Dar, Je Problem, Ktery Mas Vyresit