CARL VINE (b.1954): Oboe Concerto, Canzona, Suite from The Tempest, Smith's Alchemy.
Catalogue Number: 02I087
Label: ABC Classics
Reference: 476 226-7
Format: CD
Price: $17.98
Description: A gifted composer who makes use of all 19th and 20th century musical history and who manages to combine these influences into a recognizable style can't be pigeon-holed. His basic characteristics are an almost omnipresent obsession with rhythm, often blowing up into exciting storms; what might seem elements of minimalism can be equally attributed to the rhythmic influences of the baroque. Always present is a refusal to go "academic" and write complexicist music at any time, and a wide, attractive orchestral palette, here evident in the dramatic and lyrical oboe concerto (1996), the only work here for full orchestra. The other pieces deal with the problem of the chamber orchestra: less intimacy than a string quartet, say, but reduced timbral variety compared with a large orchestra. Smith's Alchemy is derived from the 1994 String Quartet No. 3 which shared difficult techniques across instruments to create new effects - always toward greater emotional depth and expression while the six-movement suite from the ballet The Tempest (1990) is endlessly inventive and colorful, making the most from the small resources available. Diana Doherty (oboe), Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra; Ola Rudner.