Having listened to
this CD a few times I have to admit
I am ashamed that I did not realise,
to quote the booklet essay, that "Richard
Mills is deservedly one of Australia’s
most sought after composers and music
directors." On the evidence of
this CD, he’s a fine percussionists
also. Richard Mills was a new name to
me; I suspect I am not alone in that.
I generally keep my finger on the pulse
of BBC Radio 3’s weekly offerings but
I cannot recall his name being listed
in Radio Times. Perhaps contemporary
Australian composers have an even lower-key
profile than our own. For further proof
consult the index of the latest Oxford
‘History of Western Music’, volume 5!
Anyway, Mills has written
symphonies, concertos, incidental music
(for example for the Olympics of 1982
and 2000) and several ballet scores
which have been recorded by ABC. If
I come across anything else by him I
shall snap it up as I found this CD
very impressive indeed.
To put him in an Australian
context, his style is not as atonal
(if I can describe it as that) as his
older contemporary Peter Sculthorpe
(b. 1929) or as easy-going as Nigel
Westlake (b. 1955).In fact Mills studied
in England with Edmund Rubbra when the
latter transferred to part-time work
at the ‘Guildhall School of Music’.
One thing, as I have good cause to know,
that Rubbra instilled into his pupils
was the need to search for ones individuality
or personality. This was to be done
not by gimmicks but by musical means:
technique, orchestration and colour.
These lessons have certainly washed
off on Richard Mills. Incidentally the
composer has also achieved a conducting
career and has won several composition
competitions.
Let me start with Soundscapes
for which Mills is the soloist. This
is a very impressive piece. Nocturnal
passages of delicacy and crepuscular
orchestration (helped by the exotic
percussion) create a totally original
sound-world which in all probability
could only have come out of Australia.
The work follows a clear and unusual
formal pattern. I could go on. Unfortunately
however the recorded balance is most
disappointing and is not a good advert
for ‘live’ recording. The booklet notes
do not let on that it the recording
was taken down ‘live’. That said, the
audience appears spellbound; it is only
at the end that they make their presence
felt with cheering and applause. However
the soloist is far too close and the
brass, let alone some of the woodwind,
sound as if they are in another room.
I found myself wondering how much more
impressive the orchestration would seem
if the engineers had balanced things
better.
As a ‘taster’ the CD
opens with Aeolian Caprices,
a kind of overture described as "a
short, vibrant showpiece based on an
harmonic system derived from the tones
of the Aeolian mode." Its slow-moving
harmonic progress is descanted by fast
whirling passages which run gaily around
it creating a piece full of joy and
light. Very thrilling!
Seaside Dances,
scored for what the composer describes
as eighteen solo string players, might
almost be described as a piece of light
music. It consists of six movements
with titles like ‘Maggie & Milly
& Molly & May’ and another,
‘Shell Song’. It is not however light-weight
being based on lines by e.e. cummings
quoted by the composer in the very useful
accompanying booklet. To ‘taste’ this
piece sample the CD, if you can, by
going for track 9 the ‘Star dance’.
This is almost a Scherzo with tremolando
strings forming a bed under a scurrying
melodic line. Invocations of the sea
immediately appear to the mind, a kind
of sunny Benjamin Britten without the
windswept grey horizon. The string writing
reminded me of the ‘Frank Bridge Variations’
both in its sound and technically; no
bad comparison you will agree. Also
recalled are the sea sounds of Grace
Williams’ Sea Sketches also just
for strings.
The last work in Fantastic
Pantomimes, a kind of huge
orchestral seventeen minute scherzo,
this is scored for orchestra with a
concertante group of flute, oboe, clarinet,
trumpet and horn treated and played
virtuosically by a wonderful group of
soloists. Mills writes: "The concertante
can be considered as characters in a
kind of instrumental theatre".
It is certainly a wild romp through
a glut of astonishing sounds.
The performances are
mostly of top quality although I have
a strong feeling that there is some
scrappy ensemble from time to time in
the fleeting scherzo sections of Soundscape.
To sum up: I recommend
this disc in ABC’s budget Eloquence
series. It is very generously filled
and I hope we can soon hear more of
Richard Mills. If you are inquisitive,
‘go for it’.
Gary Higginson
*Gerhard
Mallon, flute; Anthony Camden, oboe; Paul Dean,
horn; Geoffrey Spiller, trumpet 
