In the Theatre of Air

Works by A Beach, Bowler, Musgrave, G Rodgers, Tann and Weir

Marsyas Trio

NMC NMCD248 60:54 mins Celebrating women composers in the centenary year of female suffrage in the UK, this CD includes three commissions by the Marsyas Trio. Georgia Rogers’s York Minster uses pitches derived from the building’s acoustic fingerprint: if that sounds dry and scientific, the result is a haunting processional, giving a sense of the vast space of the building. The seven short sections of Tann’s In the Theatre of Air are a response to descriptions of different birds by the American poet Mary Oliver, but also carry elements of her interest in Japanese culture, especially in the shakuhachiflavoured melodic shapes given to the flute and the sparse textures, sometimes sounding as if painted with the single hair of a brush.

The performers sound more in their skin in Bowler’s edgy and often violent Salutem, with its extended instrumental techniques, vocal interjections, amplification and electronics. Although its theatrical elements miss out a little in an audio-only recording, its five movements, which reflect periods of history from the Stone Age to the Modern Age, do pack a punch, especially in the hammering of the Industrial Revolution.

The programme is bookended by Musgrave’s lyrical Canta, Canta!, and salon-like pieces by Amy Beach. Weir’s Several Concertos gives each player a mini-concerto of their own: there could be more of a spotlight on each soloist in the recording, but the music’s inventive humour still comes across. Martin Cotton PERFORMANCE ★★★★ RECORDING ★★★★