II الغرانيق:}{:Fracture IV

al-Gharaniq pieces move relatively smoothly from section to section, as minor elements of one part emerge, take over and become the primary material of the next part. Fracture pieces jump violently between disparate ideas, textures and genres. Thus, the combination of both forms into one piece creates a great deal of structural tension. There are occassional harsh breaks early in the piece, but they gradually become bigger and more frequent until taking over entirely by the end of the piece. So, in a sense the "Fracture"-ing is initially a minor element that emerges, takes over and becomes the primary element of the work's conclusion; a meta-Gharaniq moment. Which form ultimately wins out? The Fracture form that is the only thing heard in the end, or the Gharaniq form which provides the process by which the Fracture gains its prominence?

The piece opens with an aborted statement of the main Fracture melody (another instance of the Chrysalis melody) followed immediately by a virtuostic flute solo written specifically for the inestimable Andrea La Rose and her amazing circle breathing. This leads to another attempt to state the Fracture piece's melody, but it again fails and a hazy section using Stravinsky's serial rotation technique replaces it. The melody has its revenge though, because it is abstractly embedded in the tone row, and eventually the rotation process reveals it (at around 3:20 on the album).

The excitement dies away, exposing the piano building a cluster a la Ligeti's Continuum, but when the cluster is suddenly cut off, a calm f minor triad emerges. The main Chrysalis/Fracture melody is finally played in full by Hubert Chen on violin with a mostly straightforward tonal accompaniment. The melody repeats, but the harmony gets carried away as repeated modulations pull it uncomfortably from key to key (the rules of tonal pivot chord modulation are taking over and devolving into tonal incoherence) as the melody is tossed back and forth between Hubert and Jean Cook, also on violin. The music eventually fizzles out, leaving a minimal passage in the accordion and saxophones, which builds to a terrifying climax.

After a stunned silence, the ensemble brusquely states one variant of the tone row from earlier, but the highest and lowest notes get stuck. This happens again with a different rotation, but a cello solo suddenly emerges playing a melody inspired by and notated in Ancient Greek musical notation. Eventually, the mechanical tone rows return, once again getting stuck on their highest and lowest notes, until these stuck notes become the basis of a strange, lounge-like jazz accompaniment. The Amazing Peter Hess takes over on the tenor sax with a smoky, improvised solo.

From this point to the end, the piece constantly fractures back and forth between chaos, the Chrysalis melody, jazz and even, at one point, an accidental resurrection of an entirely different work, Fracture II (a piece recorded by ASM on Anti-Social Music Sings the Great American Songbook). The piece ends abruptly after a sliding detuned cello and multiphonic flute collide.