On Pastorale, the classically trained Italian pianist Stefano Battaglia teams up with percussionist Michele Rabbia for a series of improvised and composed duets that rest on the cusp of new music and jazz. The pair’s sonic palette is extended by Battaglia’s prepared piano and Rabbia’s electronics. “Antifona libera,” finds block chords interacting with the haunting tones of a bowed cymbal. “Cantar del Alma” and “Sundance in Balkh” draw on folk music of the Mediterranean. Rabbia’s brush work on the former track is deliciously subtle, while the latter cut features Battaglia’s explorations of Arab-Andalusian melody and rhythm as hand percussion sounds. “Monasterium” is a mysterious soundscape flecked with a variety of intriguing musical details. “Tanztheater,” which was created in memory of the German choreographer Pina Bausch, is an improvised suite of dances that at times evokes the sound world of Harry Partch. The album closes with the spare “Vessel of Magic,” a piece that brings to mind another American composer, Morton Feldman.