Nigel Westlake spreads
his net widely. Originally a clarinettist
he studied composition in Amsterdam
before returning to his native Australia.
There he was a member of the Australia
Ensemble, later joining John Williams’s
group Attaca for which he also wrote.
He has also written film scores. The
Imax film Antarctica is one,
and you will certainly know him from
his scores for both Babe films.
His concert work is
full of energy and colour. The Piano
Trio of 2003 has impressionist hues
alongside the more aggressively animated
sonorities. The crepuscular second movement
is especially diverting with its dialogue
between the strings underpinned by the
insistent piano. The finale has a rather
jaunty, jazzy outlook maybe leavened
by a touch of John Adams. I was taken
by Westlake’s use of the cello as an
ersatz jazz-propulsive double bass.
The riffs of The
Hinchinbrook Riffs, the work that
gives the disc its title, are digitally
copied with a delay and repeated approximately
half a second later. This creates wave-like
patterns, which increase in seductive
pleasure, not least the more absorbing
jazzy ones. The guitar is the perfect
medium for the caressing delicacy and
mesmeric quality of the writing. The
booklet photograph by the way shows
Hinchinbrook Island in all its glory.
The most recent of
the works is the String Quartet of 2005
and it’s also the longest. There are
hints of a kind of polyrhythmic minimalism
here but the percussive, patterned drive
takes it far away from any sense of
repetitious accumulation of themes.
There’s a long rather melancholic first
movement viola solo over pizzicati that
is affecting. The grave solo over pizzicato
is a feature of the third movement as
well. There’s something excitingly Janáček
and Bartók-like about the finale. A
Folk-improvisatory lilt combines with
pizzicato drama and a sense of fantasy
and colour. This is wonderful stuff,
rich in élan and a sense of the string
quartet lineage. In contrast Westlake
draws on West African music for
the percussion piece Kalabash. Here
his nod toward boppish jazz licks broadens
the range of influence; this is a piece
full of circling patterns and big dynamics
and sonorities, perfect for percussion
ensembles worldwide.
Finally there is the
1997 Piano Sonata, a one movement, dynamic
and driving piece. It summons up but
doesn’t quite embrace a kind of hyperactive
boogie but its heart is the clearly
defined slow central section – spare
and lyrical by turn and a movement that
shows how adept Westlake is at spinning
real melody. The finale is a driving
intoxicating workout.
This is an altogether
diverting and exciting showcase for
Westlake’s abundant talents. His dedicatees
and performers alike play with uninhibited
brilliance and the recordings are splendid.
Jonathan Woolf
Macquarie Trio Australia 
