Middle Ground
Middle Ground, on Other Minds. “Highly virtuosic and deeply communicative” (New Music Box) violinist Kate Stenberg performs Honstein’s three-movement work for solo violin and electronics Middle Ground (2016) for the EP and in a new 20-minute film by Four/Ten Media. The liner notes were written by classical music journalist Vanessa Ague.
Cast in three movements – “Too Far,” “Too Close,” and “Bridging the Gap” – Middle Ground searches for a common space between opposites. Ague poses, “The violin’s most airy tones complement its most full-bodied resonances as if they might be a perfect blend in some alternate universe – or perhaps they already are. Honstein explores this contrast, and its potential commonality, on Middle Ground, which funnels his unembellished compositional style into a search for the middle ground between far-reaching pitches. The work is subdued and poignant, imbuing powerful sentiment into each bold, unadorned melody and subtle electronic manipulation.”