Lionel Sainsbury, Andalusian Fantasy, Piano Works

The musical traditions of Spain and Latin America are rich and vital. English composer Lionel Sainsbury (b. 1958) has long been taken with it all. On his Andalusian Fantasy (Navona 5999) we get to hear how his fascination and love for the music becomes a creative force in his own music, in this case a series of works for solo piano.

Is he the Boccherini of today? To the extent that he immerses himself in the music and gives back creatively in kind, perhaps yes. Otherwise, such comparisons are not all that illuminating, for Sainsbury has the modern present in him as well as the Latin-Spanish influences, so you hear some of the presence of jazz precedents (Gershwin and Ellington, perhaps) and a post-impressionist glow as well.

The Spanish-Latin rhythms of dance and the melodic-harmonic particularities are readily heard in the works presented in this collection. All are well performed by the composer himself with a flair and liveliness in keeping with his dynamic style. There are moments of relative repose and introspection to be heard as well. And the jazz-oriented element can be heard directly or indirectly depending on the work or movement. It is not always the jazz of today or tomorrow so much as a recapturing of jazz-oriented compositional ways of pre-mid-20th century masters. But even then it is not a direct imitation as much as a personal rechanneling.

In all we hear six very worthwhile pieces: The "Andalusian Fantasy," the "Nocturne Op. 18," the "South American Suite," "Twelve Preludes Op. 11," "Esquisse," and the "Cuban Fantasy."

Through it all the music personality of Sainsbury shines forth. He is not merely showing how the Spanish and Latin traditions have entered his musical thought, he transforms those elements into a music that has originality and a modern-classical thrust that remains his, while channeling some of the pianistic traditions of such adaptations from the French and Spanish impressionists and post-impressionists. In the end you have a very personal and very delightful set of works that show us an inventively vivid side of Lionel Sainsbury. Recommended!

John Tavener, The Veil of the Temple, The Choir of the Temple Church, etc.

The present-day John Tavener passed away last November, but not before leaving behind a body of significant works, in later years taking on a mystical, religious tenor when he converted to Catholicism and then joined the Christian Orthodox Church.

He was at best known originally for being the first (and only?) modern classical composer to sign with the Beatles' Apple Records, recording the well-received work for voices and orchestra, The Whale.

He gradually turned away from modernism to embrace a mostly tonal yet innovative stance in the post- realm.

The Veil of the Temple (Signum Classics 367 2-CDs) is certainly his most ambitious, in its original version to be performed all night into the morning hours at the Temple Church (built 1185-1240) in London, a replica of the church built in Jerusalem.

The performance heard on the CD was recorded at the Temple in a concert version lasting several hours. The score calls for the massed Choir of the Temple Church and the Holst Singers, the church organ, soloist soprano Patricia Rozario, and the English Chamber Orchestra, all under the direction of Richard Layton.

Towards the end of his life Tavener came to believe that all organized religion had a similar mission and objective, though he remained with the Orthodox Church. This work was meant in part as a bridge from Christianity to Islam and the principal organized world religions. It includes liturgical elements of Christianity as well as those of other faiths.

Musically it combines chant structures influenced by Orthodox versions, early Roman elements as well as Vedic and other forms. In the end it is a complicated series of solo chant, unison chant, orthodox forms, polyphony and chordal harmonies in addition to special sonic events achieved by voices and instruments.

It is in all one very involved ritual experience that the liner notes explain in depth. Even in the condensed version there are a great deal of contrasting uses of aural space that at one and the same time are both archaic and neo-modern. If you know John Tavener's later work it fits in with what he was doing at the foundations, but is much more involved in the articulation of its many parts.

It is at times a work of great beauty, at other times a work of stunning ritual sustain, both at times spare and at other times incredibly full.

The performances are heart-felt and inspired. You can't help feeling that this is the work John Tavener wanted to leave as his last testament, his final musical utterance, though there are several works that followed this? Either way it is a stunning achievement that opens up a firmament of sound for us to contemplate.

Howard Blake's Vivid Music for String Quartet and String Trio, Nicely Performed by the Edinburgh Quartet

Howard Blake made me take notice years ago with his dazzling score to the children's cartoon The Snowman. I have finally had the chance to hear more of his work via a couple of Naxos releases, one covered earlier on my Gapplegate Music Review Blog, the other up for discussion today. What I hear I like.

The one at hand covers some of his music for string quartet (and one for string trio) (Naxos 8.572688). The Edinburgh Quartet do the honors and they provide a nice balance between lyric expression and subtle shadings of string color. In many ways that's what Howard Blake's string chamber music is about.

His music has a modern tang to it and a kind of linear narrative quality so that you would never think you are hearing a piece by, say, Schumann or Brahms. Yet there is a very lyrical melodic strain to his compositions that put him apart from what is the norm out there today. The pieces ["Spieltrieb," "A Month in the Country," "Leda and the Swan," "String Trio, Op. 199," and "Walking in the Air"] include some early work (1975, 1977) and some recent (2008-2010). All have a pretty ravishing memorability about them.

The CD ends with the "Walking in the Air" sequence of The Snowman Suite and it is lovely to hear, especially if you are already familiar with the boy soprano, piano and orchestra version from the cartoon soundtrack. What it loses in sheer sensual beauty it gains with the paired-back clarity of the quartet.

This certainly is not the sort of cutting-edge modernism that can be had out there. It is a wonderful example of music from a composer who will give you a warm, almost folksy kind of feeling. a little like Vaughan-Williams in his more homespun mode.

If that sounds interesting to you, check this one out by all means.