Gallery: Opening Music 1
Gallery: Concluding Music A
Pas de quatre
Vocalise in G
December (from a Year of Birds)
Vocalise in G minor
Trio for Clarinet, Cello & Piano
Gallery: Opening Music 2
Gallery: Concluding Music B
Pieta
Gallery: Opening Music 3
Gallery: Sandwich Trailer 2
Music for Solo Horn
Concerto Fragment
Gallery: Sandwich Trailer 1
Gallery: Concluding Music C
Concerto for Wind Quintet & Two Pianos, Eight Hands

The music of Australian/British composer Malcolm Williamson (1931-2003) is nothing if not brash and assertive, with rare but deeply lyrical moments thrown in for good measure. And according to the booklet notes, his personality mirrored his music. "As a man he could be completely adorable one minute, and infuriatingly obturate the next. It could be said that at least in part, it's for this reason that his music, which enjoyed great success particularly in the early stages of his career, has disappeared almost completely from the concert hall as well as the recording catalogues. This is an enormous shame, given the extraordinary quality of his music."

Spontaneous, impulsive yet calculated, jaunty and spirited yet deeply reflective. These are but some of the initial impressions that come to mind when listening to his music. As I had noted in a previous review of a recording of his Piano Concertos, "his music is constantly diverse, imaginative, bold, conservative, lyrical and adventurous, all rolled into one." There's even a slight jazz element at times lurking just under the surface (the composer himself played the piano in night clubs during the 1950s).

The pieces gathered together in this collection are for mixed instrumental combinations including flute, clarinet, trumpet(s), bass trumpet, percussion, cello, oboe, bassoon, horn, piano(s), and even a mezzo-soprano. Some of them premiere recordings, and mostly incidental music ranging from Music for Solo Horn composed when Williamson was only 16, to music for the television show Gallery, to the greatly impressive Concerto for Wind Quintet & Two Pianos, Eight Hands, a prime example of Williamson's volatile temperament in which the composer's mastery of counterpoint is on full display.

A 20th century composer well worth discovering or at least reacquainting yourself with if he's already part of your musical vernacular.