William Dowdall (flutes) Celestial Harmonies 13253-2

William Dowdall here presents a number of intertwined explorations. He surveys solo flute classics by JS and CPE Bach, Debussy and Varèse, adding works by Takemitsu, Karg-Elert, Honegger and Mercadante, and then leaps over the likes of Ferneyhough and Sciarrino to present 21st-century works written specially for him by John Buckley, Donnacha Dennehy and Peter Michael Hamel. He plays a range of instruments, including, in Buckley's Sea Echoes, a flute that allows for unusual glissando effects. He delivers the new pieces as to the manner born. The pick of the bunch is Dennehy's cheeky, tape-accompanied fAt, with its genuflection to Reich's New York Counterpoint. The pieces by the two Bachs are less successful. Unusually, the CD booklet includes generous music examples. See url.ie/ 5e2w