Harry Sparnaay (bass clarinet), Annelie de Man (harpsichord)

Tangram (1992) - Hope Lee

Clair Obscur (1996) - Victor Varela

Imker - Ton Bruynel

Fugung (1995) - Raymond Deane

Les Soupirs de Rameau (1995) - Jacob Ter Veldhuis

Momentum (1991) - Roderick de Man

Of the six items in last Sunday's recital in the Lane Gallery only two, Clair Obscur and Fugung were for bass clarinet and harpsichord alone; Tangram and Momentum included tape as well; Imker was for alto clarinet and tape, Les Soupirs de Rameau for harpsichord and tape.

This last piece opened with the original Soupirs, which was then transformed into that strange world of electronically created sounds with which conventional musical instruments have an uneasy relationship. The manual and electronic compete for attention, the manual being overeager to show that it, too, can create extraordinary and unexpected combinations. The composers of such hybrids seem reluctant to part from music in the conventional sense, but the impetus is towards the freedom of the electronic and the word "music" is an inadequate description of the results.

The part for tape in Bruynel's Imker (beekeeper) was, much of the time, an amplified hum of bees, of an intensity that was frightening. Musically it acted as a drone and the clarinet part avoided the leaps that are almost obligatory in contemporary music, so Imker was easy on the ear.

Hope Lee is a Canadian of Chinese origin; her Tangram was clearly indebted to the sounds of Chinese instruments and its spare textures emphasised its exoticism. The partnership of Sparnaay and de Man, two players of the utmost virtuosity, has naturally led to the wiring of new works for clarinet and harpsichord, and they have commissioned many works, including Raymond Deane's Fugung. This, at times, reaches levels of "fiendish difficulty" (the composer's own words) but the players didn't turn a hair. As there was no tape in this work, it sounded closer to musical tradition that it might otherwise have done, but it was as demanding on the listener as any of the others.