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Chamber music Chamber of Horrors
Purple Prelude
Two CDs by a prominent young Australian composer, showing imagination and confidence, without straying far from a minimalist predeliction. Tall Poppies is an enterprising label, devoted to Australian composers and performers, and their catalogue is well worth checking out. You will find some names familiar in UK and Europe, but many others scarcely known here; humbling! . Of these, a decided preference and strong recommendation for the mixed chamber music disc. Kats-Chernin describes herself as a survivor from the ruthless tuition of Lachenmann, to whom she is grateful although emerged so chastened that she stopped composing for some years, latterly settling for "a sort of post-modern 'light music', more obviously so in the piano disc. Lots of originality in exploring unusual instruments and combinations in Chamber of Horrors (a striking double bass quartet as opener; Alice Giles' midi- harp has interesting sonorities) and there are substantial items for viola and solo cello (some of these brought together from other CDs in the Tall Poppies catalogue). Presentation is generally good, with full information about all the participants; the guillotine nearly missed cutting the pages correctly for the piano disc, with several Rags after Joplin, it is all slightly too relaxed for my taste. Peter Grahame Woolf |
Piano Music