The Australian ensemble Elision approaches the music of Julio Estrada with a sense of discovery and exhilaration. In Yuunohui’ nahui’ ehecatl (1985–2012), the group finds an ideal meeting point between Estrada’s radical imagination and their own unmatched precision in complex sound worlds.
For decades, Elision has been one of the leading forces in new music, recognised for its fearless virtuosity and deep collaborations with composers such as Liza Lim, Richard Barrett, and Turgut Erçetin. Formed in Australia and now based across several continents, the ensemble has performed on major stages from the Berlin Philharmonie to the Opéra National de Paris, earning a reputation for its uncompromising dedication to musical innovation.
In this performance, Tristram Williams, Ben Marks, Ben Roidl-Ward, and Kathryn Schulmeister bring Estrada’s music to life with a rare mix of intensity and control. Captured with striking clarity by Agatha Yim and with detailed, resonant sound by Alistair McLean, the result is a sonic experience that feels both wild and meticulously sculpted.
Born in Mexico City in 1943, Julio Estrada is one of Latin America’s most original and influential musical thinkers. A student of Messiaen, Ligeti, and Xenakis, he has built an entire compositional system around the idea of the continuum — a fluid sound world where pitch, rhythm, and timbre merge into continuous transformation. His works explore the limits of perception and performance, often requiring extraordinary precision and imagination from the performers.
Yuunohui’ nahui’ ehecatl belongs to a cycle of pieces inspired by indigenous Mexican concepts of sound and breath. Its title evokes the four winds — a reminder that Estrada’s music is not only abstract but also deeply rooted in memory, landscape, and mythology.
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