A DUST IN TIME | THE ARTS DESK

Classical CDs: Muesli, mindfulness colouring and a trip to the boulangerie
Underrated British symphonies, baroque music in new colours and romantic quartets

Huang Ruo: A Dust in Time Del Sol Quartet (Bright Shiny Things)
Huang Ruo’s movement titles evoke epic spans, but the chronological distances travelled are actually much smaller. A Dust in Time’s 13 movements play out over 60 minutes like a folded sheet of paper: ascending gently towards the “Supereon” then winding down again, its circular form inspired by Tibetan mandala patterns. If you’ve read David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas, you’ll enjoy this. Dust is an apt metaphor for the passing of the hours, as anyone who’s spent periods working from home during the last 18 months will realise, Ruo presumably also alluding to our own insignificance in the grand scheme of things.

I listened to A Dust in Time in a single sitting after a very long day and was moved to tears, this serene, radiant music packing a real punch. That the work is so moving is also down to the performance; though recorded over two days, the Del Sol Quartet’s rendition feels like a single take. There’s lots to love about this release before you’ve even inserted the CD. The engineering is impressive, and the physical release comes with a colouring book, its patterns drawn by San Francisco school student Felicia Lee and inspired by Ruo’s music.