MUSICWEB:
Most of the music on the disc is by Derek Bell, playing for a total of 63:49 by comparison with Beinsa Dunso’s 8:36. Bell is the harpist of the world-famous group The Chieftains. He is also a fine pianist, cimbalom and dulcimer player. He has three piano sonatas and two symphonies to his name along with much else. After hearing the second I am extremely interested in hearing the first and indeed his other works. The style he adopts is not difficult or overly modernistic.

The Variations and Musical Quotations (1985) are difficult to approach. Not that the music is at all challenging. It is a strange confection which I find unsatisfactory though you can applaud the exhortation to the positive forward-looking direction of Northern Ireland. The piece quotes extensively from Schumann’s Symphony No. 4. The drums: bodhran and Lambeg representing the contrasting Irish cultures also feature. This is an occasional piece and this track is valuable as a memento of the occasion rather than something I personally would want to return to very often.

The cheeky, chummy and slightly boozy Divertissement (1977) sounds like a cross between Mozart, Dvorák and Malcolm Arnold. Good companionable occasional music. A work which any ensemble looking to ring the changes would do well to look out.

The Toccata Burlesca (1958) for oboe and piano is determinedly busy at first but from the first entry of the oboe the atmosphere changes to a plaintive serenade. Sometimes it suggested a French twentieth century romantic ballet. The overtones of Malcolm Arnold are also there again.

The symphony is a major edifice deploying large orchestra, organ, piano, mixed chorus and harp. It is in five sections. The first opens with a grim set to the jaw but at 1:05 relaxes into a serenade-like song. The notes indicate an inspiration linked deeply into Rosicrucian mysticism. However the French atmosphere is what predominates with hints of Dvorák again but with a dash of Boieldieu (Harp Concerto), Arnold, William Alwyn (Lyra Angelica) and Schubert. The second movement (Invocation of Pan) uses the solo harp very prominently and attractively. There is a sense of lofty emotions, joy and attainment in the choral finale but the music is not as striking as the avowed programme. This work is heavily programmed with grand themes which sound worthy of Scriabin at his most mystical and ambitious. The music would have benefited from the notes being less explicit. The listener would perhaps do well to hear the music without the possible distraction of the notes.

The final clutch of four little compositions by Douno are pleasing but have not struck me as more than that.

The booklet is in English only and contain full notes on the music and the people involved in this fascinating production.

The profits of sale are being donated by Athene to support and encourage children in Bulgaria.

There is much to enjoy here but the pleasures are low key. Nevertheless there is something about that symphony which intrigues me and I would very much like to hear more by Bell who is not afraid to write in an idiom which suits him rather than seeks after originality or the shock of yesterday’s avant-garde.
Rob Barnett