TREVOR HOLD (1939-2004): Kemp’s Nine Daies Wonder, 10 pieces from The Lilford Owl, 6 Kaleidoscopes.

Description: Well versed in contemporary methods, Hold adhered to a thoroughly tonal idiom (allowing for an occasional Messiaenic chord sequence), with a clearly defined 'Englishness' derived from his love of the English countryside. Kemp was a contemporary of Shakespeare, who performed a nine-day Morris Dance from London to Norwich, and inspired this varied suite in predominantly light-hearted and lively mood, drawing on a number of dance forms - though, like the English countryside, not without its shadows and dark places, as represented, for instance, in the passacaglia of day seven. The Lilford Owl is a set of preludes based on (less well known) British folk songs, freely transcribed and provided harmonisations and accompaniments somewhat as Grainger might have done. The Kaleidoscopes are idiosyncratic character pieces. One is an homage to Billy Mayerl, one has a Scottish flavor, one is a little war memorial with distant drum beats and bugle calls, and the last is an enigmatic fantasia of interlocking clock chimes. Peter Jacobs (piano). Original 1993 release.