The meeting of the clans

Press, 10 February 1986, Page 10

The meeting of the clans

Classical records review

ALLAN FRANCIS

ELEGY. THE RETURN. Poems by Alistair Campbell, sound image by Douglas Lilburn. Michael Leighton Jones, baritone. Margaret Nielsen, piano. Tim Elliot, narrator. KIWI PACIFIC. SLD-68.

Had this meeting of Clans Campbell and Lilburn been staged in an earlier time, the results would have inevitably ended in bloodshed — mainly Lilburn’s. Anyone well aware of the Campbells’ penchant for victory through brutality would expect Campbell’s brooding lyrics to eclipse Lilburn’s music in no uncertain terms, but this is not the case in 1986.

The honours are fairly even, but it is the medium that provides the common line of attack that the onlooker might question. The music is as ancient as the spectre of “Love, Death and Solitude” that Campbell quotes. Apart from a few hints of Schubertian lieder, the thoughts and the settings could have taken place in some court in the middle ages where a singer of note relates his stories to the king, with the help of a primitive stringed instrument. The harmony, Including polyphony, understates the themes of “early death in harsh mountain country.” "Elegy” is as old as time and, even with the use of electronics, “Return” is not too far removed from the same idiom. Again the scene centres around “mist, sea

and dark headlands” and the work is shrouded in mystique — Polynesian intentionally, but universal in reality.

This battle of clans has been fought before. In the early seventies the venture made its first appearance on record (SLD-13), with the identical line-up of troops, except the baritone role by Michael Leighton Jones was originally performed by Gerald Christeller. Of course, the listener will find that Campbell treats the brutish theme throughout with great sensitivity. Lilburn matches this quality with considerable skill. “Return” is a haunting piece with longing and brooding mysticism. In spite of certain reservations about the wholesale use of electronics, one must acclaim all parties for a successful encounter, this time wisely trimmed in length.

THE BACH CHOIR. “Prisms.” Works by Jenny McLeod, Ross Harris, Lyell Cresswell and David Hamilton. Director, Roy Tankersley. KIWI PACIFIC RECORDS SLD-74. As with a good deal of composition from Jenny McLeod and Ross Harris, these pieces would be better served as stage works.

Still, the medieval note prevails. All of these works would have been more impressive on stage, although the Bach Choir handle the difficult harmony lines with good effect. Ross Harris’s involved musical structure may have heads shaking in bewilderment. The increasingly complex harmony, evident in “Waituhi,” is no less obscure with this 1983 setting of “Kia Mau Te Rongo,” with words from Corinthians, Chapter 13. / It is not easy listening, but those interested in this old/new idiom, that obviously fascinates Harris followers, will find much to - dig into here. By contrast, the evangelist tone of Lyell Cressweirs “0 Let The Fire Burn” is, more of a rabble-rouser,

until the “Vision Song” breaks the pattern. David Hamilton opts for a simpler pattern of tonal triads, again reaching for medieval effects, which C does as much for the choir’s skills as it does for i” the Cresswell composition. Apart from Jenny McLeod’s deceptively ingenuous lyrics, this would be the easiest of this batch to come to terms with, and possibly the most convincing. '’t

SCHUBERT. “Trout” - Quintet in A major. D. ' 667 played by the Endres G* Quartet with Rolf Reinhardt, piano. MAESTRO MASTERS SH-817. - Impromptus Op. 90 No. 1 £■ to 4. Op. 142 No. I to 4 played by Ingrid Haebler, piano. MAESTRO MASTERS SH-816.

What a windfall to have these Schubert pieces available. Together they cost less than one medium-priced LP, and "with such quality from Ingrid Haebler, one oi ? Philips’s most recorded pianists from the fifties and sixties, who must rank very close to Arrau or Brendel in the same . works.

Only marginally less is the “Trout” Quintet from' the Endres , Quartet, a sweet-toned account that is truly delightful. In the 11 world of budget cassettes, that is more variable than most, this pair can be bought with confidence. ■><