My last encounter with the music of Philip Gates (see review)
proved greatly enjoyable. I was particularly drawn to his A
Garland for Gatsby, an imaginative piece for piano. Now we
encounter some earlier pieces in this Shellwood disc of sonatas
and duos for flute, alto saxophone, clarinet and piano.
The Flute Sonata is
a work rich in dance patterns, rich and redolent. Its subtitle
is Danzas del Sud but it seems also to take in Provençal
languor as well as Parisian conservatoire rigour in its technical
demands. Listen to the way the piano sets up a tango rhythm in
the first movement enticing the hesitant, ruminating flute, music
that soon modifies into refined reverie. The slow movement is
shot through with lyrical tristesse and the finale veers between
an initial introspection and a consequent terpsichorean verve.
It’s the same spirit of yearning reverie that courses through
Wonderland from Mood Music. The nostalgic hues are palpable.
The March Hare of the second piece gives us some quirky
rests amidst its balletic leaps and the concluding waltz is brimful
of charm. That veteran great, Roy Willox – a name much misspelled
– proves an ardent and eloquent champion.
The Clarinet sonata
is another expressive three-movement work, dating from 1995. It
has its more mordant moments but is again based on dance rhythms,
and sports a melancholy slow movement. The finale has Latin American
veins and there’s a spirited ‘false ending’ to keep auditors and
one suspects players on their toes. Airs and Graces is another
work for flute and piano. There are six movements. Poppyland
is lissom, Naiad is very strongly stamped ‘Paris c.1925’
and there’s some evocative Scottish brogue in At Loch
Leven. These are rich little character studies, deserving
of exploration. Mood Music is bipartite – the opening solo soliloquy
from Willox’s alto saxophone embraces reflective still and then
increasingly warm songfulness. The second part, Soft-Shoe gives
us some snappy 20’s rhythm. There are shanty hints in the final
number, Rio Bound, and with its nautical associations that’s only
right.
Philip Gates is the
pianist on all theses tracks and his colleagues Ian Clarke, Thomas
Kelly, Janet Way and the aforementioned Roy Willox prove staunch
advocates of his winning, life affirming, and excellently recorded
music.
Jonathan Woolf
Ian Clarke (flute)
