Bradley Creswick (violin), RTÉ NSO/Gavin Maloney
RTÉ lyric fm CD 125 ***
Belfast composer Deirdre Gribbin is very much driven by extra-musical stimuli.
Venus Blazing
(2002) and
Empire States
(2003) both stem from experiences in New York, the first inspired by photographs of the planet Venus seen at the Rose Space Center, the second a direct response to the American Dream.
Unity of Being
(2001), written for the Ulster Orchestra, is subtitled “a peace anthem for Northern Ireland”, and is one of a number of pieces with political teeth. There’s a floating, dream-like quality to
Venus Blazing
, a violin concerto where the mostly subdued soloist starts an energetic dance in the finale, and a flaying violence in
Unity of Being
.
Empire States
follows upbeat minimalism with a question mark.
See url.ie/57c6
MICHAEL DERVAN
