Barry Guy (double bass)

Valentine - Jacob Druckmann

Improvisation - Barry Guy

Therapas - Iannis Xenakis

Memo 1 - Bernard Rands

Dogs in waiting - Ailis Ni Riain

Fizzles - Barry Guy

In Druckmann's Valentine the bassist, wielding a large padded drumstick, tentatively and silently approaches the recumbent instrument, as if it were a sleeping monster, When it is raised, dwarfing the player, and begins to sound, one wonders which of them is in control, for while the instrument thuds and booms and crackles the player grimaces and groans and gabbles and clicks in a way which brings to mind Lucky in Waiting for Godot. But it is a young Lucky, bursting with energy and fully confident of his ability to communicate.

Barry Guy's own Improvisation is almost as wild and the use of an amplifier enables him to play with sounds in various ways, lengthening the reverberations of notes and encouraging slides and legato playing. The visual or theatrical element is always present, especially in the bewildering complexity of his hand movements, the note that might emerge at any one moment could have been planned or accidental: this uncertainty made listening an exciting experience.

All his virtuosity was called for in Xenakis's Therapas, a work which used the player's prestidigitatory skills to express ascetic purpose. The other works in the recital often brought a smile to one's lips, but not this.

Ailis Ni Riain's Dogs in Waiting was awarded the prize in the Mostly Modern/IMRO Young Composers' Competition. Guy brought to life the seven doggy portraits and restrained himself to one of the suggested barks.

In his Fizzles there was no barking but no restraint either as the long-suffering instrument was subjected to attack by ten fingers, two hands and a selection of drumsticks. Barry Guy strays right to the edge of music and beyond, where only the bravest will follow.