Kenneth Young conducts the NZSO strings in the New Zealand composer's interesting works inspired by four elegiac images from Robin Morrison's "A Night Journey", a photographic presentation on Northland. (The photos are seen in the accompanying booklet.) The title piece (commissioned by the Auckland Philharmonia) contains seven brief sections, all inspired by an old monument at the Ahipara cemetery, with music of hope and desolation.
The other works are Night Journey to Pawarenga, in which the Archangel Gabriel and Prophet Mohammed have ecstatic experiences of God, the reverential Christ at Whangape, and Anthem on the Kaipara, that contemplates horrors of war before returning to calm land and tweeting birdsong. All are cleverly written in seven very brief, effective sections.
Highlight: Night Journey provides dramatic listening.
Eleven chamber music works by a NZ composer are on this disc. Toru is an experimental trio for clarinet, cello and taonga puoro. Summer Music is for piano trio, and the more interesting Aequora tuta silent pairs saxophone and viola with calming electronic effects. Two cellos duet in Aria with Commentary, Nightwind and Farewell for David Farquhar, William Dowdall is the solo flautist for Pan Dreaming and Robert Ashworth ignites a virtuoso viola solo, Pacific Rock, with great panache. Hau has cello (James Tennant) combined with taonga puoro and Voices Within pits a fiery harpsichord (Rachel Grifiths-Hughes) against inventive electronic recording effects. Lodge seems to try too hard for invention in some of these "mini-concertos" but provides some attractive and intriguing new sounds.
Highlight: Fierce viola in Pacific Rock.
