Points in a Changing Circle - Music of New Zealand
Composers
Douglas LILBURN Brass Quartet
(1992)
John ELMSLY Triptych for trumpet and electronic sounds
(1993)
John RIMMER Sonata 5
John RIMMER Seaswell for trumpet and electronic sounds
(1993)
Ross HARRIS Echo for trumpet with tape
loop
John ELMSLY Gestauqua for brass quintet and electronic
tape
Concord Brass
ATOLL A9806
[63.10]
Lilburn (whose Lilburn Trust bankrolled this disc) does not mess with archaism
- at least not in his quartet. Instead he writes, over five movements, a
smooth, reedy serenade with some glances towards Hovhaness and Copland. Elmsly
first impressed me with his contribution to the Atoll Fanfares disc (also
reviewed here) and in Triptych (misspelt on the label) the electronic
sounds are musical and blend well, if gothically, with a defiant trumpet
line. More successfully still his Sonata a 5 is patterned with complexity
within a game harmonic frame. Seaswell, for me, misses the mark, the
effects are too intrusive, discontinuous and do not blend with the trumpet.
Ross Harris's Echo is a more resolved piece with clever use of the
loop subtly to extend the range and line of the trumpet. It is not a difficult
avant garde piece unlike Gestauqua although it is clever and convinces
you that repeated listenings will draw you closer.
Rob Barnett
In case of difficulty available from
Atoll ltd, PO Box 99039, Newmarket, Auckland, New Zealand.
www.atoll.co.nz
atoll@atoll.co.nz
