SALVADOR BROTONS (b.1959): Symphony No. 5 "Mundus noster", Op. 117, Oboe Concerto, Op. 115, 4 Pieces for String Orchestra - Suite, Op. 14.

Description: Although structured symphonically, Mundus noster has a distinct program; aspects of our contemporary world - bombastic, brassy 'power' contrasting with a melancholy second subject 'poverty'; the grotesque marionette dance of 'hypocrisy'; an aggressive, percussion-driven warlike scherzo; and finally, a vision of hope rising out of chaos and despair. The composer's idiom is a thoroughly tonal, mid-20th-century one, presented in bold Romantic orchestral colors and textures. The work is very accessible, and makes a powerful statement. The concerto is an attractive three-movement piece full of elegance and charm, and a touch of melancholy - shades of Poulenc, perhaps - while the early Suite, written when the composer was seventeen, is a remarkably accomplished and expressive work in a tense, chromatic idiom, displaying the early influence of Shostakovich on the composer. Javier Arnal González (oboe), Orquestra Simfónica de Balears "Ciutat de Palma"; Salvador Brotons.