'96 String Along

{TABLE} Intermezzi Op 117 ....... Brahms Traume ............ Philip Hammond Sonata in F minor Op 120 No 1 ...... Brahms Lullabies for Deirdre .......... John Buckley Three Irish Folksongs ......... Philip Hammond Lachrymae .......... Britten Two songs with viola Op 91 ......... Brahms {/TABLE} PIANIST Roy Holmes is the lynchpin of the National Concert Hall's oddly-titled new series, '96 String Along. At the first concert, on Monday night, he played solo (in the Brahms Op. 117 and John Buckley's Lullabies for Deirdre), accompanied the mezzo soprano Colette McGahon in songs and arrangements by Philip Hammond, accompanied the viola player Joachim Roewer in the F minor Sonata from Brahms's Op. 120 and Britten's Lachrymae, and joined with singer and string player for the closing songs with viola by Brahms.

The willing reading of Brahms's Op. 117 and the trite patterning of Buckley's Lullabies were the weakest elements in this very mixed programme. Holmes sounded altogether more impressive in the Second Viennese School style of expressionism adopted by Philip Hammond in the three songs of his 1982 Traume (though an institution like the NCH should hang its head in shame for failing to provide either texts or translations!).

The personal reticence of Hammond's musical voice creates an effect of veiled identity, an impression highlighted on this occasion by his arrangements of three Irish airs, The Meeting of the Waters done in Phil Coulterish mode, She Moved Through the Fair in clustery cabaret impressionism and The Next Market Day in a mock-modal manner.

The reticence of the piano playing in Brahms's F minor Sonata (parallel to the viola, but detached rather than supportive of it or engaged with it) left Joachim Roewer sounding altogether too exposed, but Britten's Lachrymae communicated clearly and the Brahms songs were carried off with agreeable understatement.