Perhaps my personal favorite on the disc is Chinary Ung’s Spiral III. After its bold beginning, the piece patiently explores different colorful timbres, giving each new sound a sense of clarity yet moving through its palette with an elusive, unsettled quality. On the whole, Ung allows for individual voices to come to the fore and shine while also achieving a synthesis of the different elements. A particular beautiful moment to me was hearing the first violin soar above the quartet while maintaining a sense of serene calm. Ung…has succeeded here in drawing on musical textures and spiritual influences from his native Cambodia while mastering string quartet composition in his own way.

Gao Ping’s Bright Light and Cloud Shadows also displayed a tremendous sense of patience, letting the music breathe and develop. Its barren, almost spooky beginning allowed for dissonances to creep in to the texture. I was impressed with the way the few melodic motives used would emerge and be “worked on” by the quartet, with a two-note accented motive providing a coherence and destination to the piece…I felt drawn to listen deeply to the different sounds being created, and I’m sure each listening will be a different experience.

Zhou Long’s Song of the Ch’in has the quartet imitating the ch’in, a Chinese seven-stringed zither that is plucked with tremendous sophistication. This instrumental quality was realized well by both composer and performers here. I was impressed with the full tone of each plucked note in the New Zealand Quartet’s capable hands. The quick slides after the strings were plucked were just one of the nuances brought out among the myriad of ornaments throughout. The harmonies were full of color…

What is fascinating to me in Toru Takemitsu’s music is hearing the distinct influences of different composers while also hearing Takemitsu’s highly individual voice. On A Way a Lone, I personally hear a lot of Debussy in the lush harmonies and flowing motion around the quartet. This is no cheap imitation though, and it’s noteworthy how much there is to listen to in this piece, with background figures darting in and out of the texture along with quick, churning melodic lines.

Tan Dun’s aptly titled Eight Colors consists of short character pieces that draw out sounds ranging from siren-like, slinky, urgency with that horrmore....

Review By David Hurwitz,ClassicsToday.com,January 2013

This disc brings together five works by as many highly talented Asian composers…The first three works, Zhou Long’s Song of the Ch’in, Chinary Ung’s Spiral III, and Gao Ping’s Bright Light and Cloud Shadows, come from a similar school of contemporary composition, broadly speaking. You might call it an offshoot of Romantic Nationalism with avant-garde elements, at least to the extent that Asian melodic ideas mingle with imitations of native instruments involving advanced playing techniques. All three works are captivating in their various ways. Takemitsu’s A Way a Lone…exploits the composer’s familiar mix of Debussy and Messiaen with typically evocative results.