BITTERsweet
Geoffrey Morris, Guitar
RED9403

BITTERsweet is a thoughtfully programmed disc by one of the world’s best performers of contemporary music for guitar. Each composition pairs Geoffrey Morris on guitar with an instrument of a different flavour. Some are more interesting than others, but each is successful, and all performers are masters of their instruments.

Of the ten tracks which comprise the release, the first five are musically more straight forward. Though mostly engaging, these compositions lack some of the individual character of the second set of five. Heard in isolation, the early pieces present a uniform austerity, both in their approach to the challenges of writing for guitar with another instrument, and in their harmonic soundworlds. The first track, Kaleidoscope by Clarence Barlow, is a good example of the latter with its predictable sense of modality. Kissed by the Sun, composed by Mark Pollard, doesn’t manage to move beyond staccato flute interspersed with longer melodic lines, even after its considerable duration (relative to all the other pieces here) of 9 minutes. Mark Finsterer’s Spell takes its austerity more seriously as a reminder that bitterness is no bad attribute.

In the early part of the disc there is still much to enjoy, and the performance of Lesleigh Tompson’s Sweet Talk is of the highest standard, teaming Morris with fellow Elision member and cellist Rosanne Hunt.

The second half of the disc begins with David Young’s Ninazu. Gone are the strictures of the earlier pieces, as guitar and voice (Deborah Kayser) slip and slide, bending notes in this harmonically fractured composition. The Liza Lim‑like opening is an earthy joy with Kayser in her chesty, lower register voice. This is the kind of music in which these performers excel.

Of all the pieces on this disc, I most enjoyed the combination of guitar and piano (Mark Knoop), in Itamar Erez’s Conversations. This dialogue here is successful because each instrument is given just enough space to project its own personality. Some striking moments result, such as the start where Knoop’s hard articulations in the piano’s high register are perfectly matched by Morris’s quiet and detailed filigree.

Knoop also plays glasses on the title track bittersüB, by German composer Gerhard Stäbler. In the scheme of the CD this composition picks up the modal references in the earlier pieces, replacing their coldness with simplicity and clarity.

The order of BITTERsweet’s compositions is part of the disc’s success. Works which in isolation might not seem interesting, are carefully sequenced and expertly performed to make the most of their remarkable attributes.

© Michael Hooper