field studies is a CD of chamber music by Canadian composer Emilie Cecilie Lebel.  There are five tracks on the record; each around twelve minutes long, scored for various small forces and recorded in different locations.

The pieces are all different but they have one thing in common.  They make a few notes go a long way!  evaporation blue, which opens the album is typical.  It’s scored for piano and harmonica; both played by Cheryl Duvall, and it’s very sparse with the notes typically given long time values.  It’s quite evocative in a slightly tense kind of way.  It’s also recorded with a lot of resonance which has to be deliberate since it was recorded at Revolution Recording in Toronto.

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