Reviews

In sum, with fine performances and a good recording, this release deserves to be heard by more than just devotees of the violin. It shows the toughness and sheer musicality of two fine British composers writing at full stretch.

This disc deserves a place on the shelves of every serious collector. These two cycles of Gershwin arrangements contain some of Finnissy’s best and most thought-provoking music played by one of his greatest advocates. The emotions in Finnissy’s arrangements are often as complex as the music is intricate, at one moment poignant, disturbing at the next, but always utterly compelling. Strongly recommended.

The exercise is not only valid but musically stimulating. Pace is clearly so conversant with this music as to be a constituent part of it, while the deliberately dated piano sound and recording style is perfectly suited to this strange yet compelling music. This disc is unique and remarkable.

As an arranger Finnissy is radical – as we should know from his own music. So the stage is set on this CD for something special. Everything is beautifully played too.

Ian Pace proves to be a heroic interpreter of Finnissy’s Gershwin transcriptions – a tough, sometimes baffling listen, but an extraordinary achievement.

These versions are useful concert items at the very least. But they have other dimensions, musical and sociological, as Pace’s booklet essay explains. Using a Fazioli piano to re-create an old-fashioned sound, he plays them thoughtfully and beautifully.

By turns virtuosic and contemplative, they are given an incandescent performance by Ian Pace. The song tunes drift hazily in and out of the music. Layers of melody, voluptuous harmony, and intellectually challenging counterpoint entrap the listener into a wholly original and exciting sound world, nevertheless remarkably approachable for a late 20th century composition. The piano recording is delectable. This wonderful disc has already become a firm favourite in my catalogue. Finnissy is a national treasure; let’s have lots more, please.

It’s impossible to do justice to the range of this remarkable music in a short review. Ian Pace has forthright views on these pieces and is an ideally characterful interpreter.

These are quartets of substance from two British composers… Dedicated playing from the Bochmann Quartet, with suitably close, focused sound.

The Bochmann Quartet… prove inspired and dedicated performers in these substantial additions to the British string quartet canon.

The trombonist Barrie Webb, who instigated this collaboration with seven Japanese composers, deserves congratulation. Each piece…is uniquely satisfying in its own way. ⭐️⭐️⭐️

this music is well worth getting to know, not least for Barry Webb’s unstinting commitment to the project and the consistency of his playing.

On this interesting disc we have four works for tape each lasting about sixteen minutes and they should be listened to as any other music. we have a splendid range of features of classical music: we have a ‘toccata’, a splendid ‘adagio’ with some beautiful music; we have frenetic excitement and remarkable effects. I recommend this disc to introduce people to music for tape. I am sure that the majority will find much to enjoy. The recording is excellent.

This disc is a good introduction to the work of a composer (b 1955) who is both an interesting conceptualist and a craftsman well able to realise his ideas in an aurally satisfying way. Pace plays with clarity and fervour throughout. 10 RECORDS FOR CHRISTMAS 1998

This is music where the apparently bland exterior discloses a wealth of invention on repeated listening. Pianist Ian Pace’s performances are exceptional and insightful. – ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Christopher Fox merges often complex technical procedures into sensuous streams of sound that beguile as well as fascinate the ear.

Minimalism and complexity seem unavoidable labels. Though they’re inadequate, they offer some guide to the listener through the confusing mass of contemporary composition. But then along comes Chris Fox, a composer who messes up journalistic simplifications because he clearly has affinities with both camps. More Light is the first of two CDs of Fox’s music […]

Ian Pace plays this powerful but almost unfathomable music with great sensitivity. The sleeve notes by Pace and Fox could hardly be better, and I’m bound to say I’m looking forward to the companion volume that Metier has promised.

An intriguing facet to the work of this important contemporary composer. Another enterprising release in Metier’s Finnissy series, featuring impressive singing by Voces Sacrae.

[Finnissy’s] motets have an apparent simplicity, a devotional serenity, an authenticity in their use of plainchant that make them hard to distinguish from works written centuries ago. Fans of Tavener and Gorecki should find enjoyment here.