Also notice how the composer resists certain instrumental conventions. For example, in Novarra the most urgent melodic passages for string instruments are played pizzicato, while winds and brass work hard to control slow sliding gestures that normally would be assigned to bowed strings. Brown's superb ear for timbre also manifests itself in Times Five's subtle shifts between live acoustic instruments and pre-recorded four-channel electronic sounds, despite the dry, relatively constricted recording quality. Clearly this piece begs for a more resonant acoustic and surround-sound. Furthermore, Brown's stylistic integrity is such that I listened without referring to David Ryan's lovingly informed booklet notes, and I found it impossible to ascertain which pieces were conventionally notated and which were derived from graphic instructions. Collectors who missed this release on CRI should take advantage now.