'Continuum’

Press, 2 June 1989, Page 4

'Continuum’

“Continuum,” presented by the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra in a new music prelude, conducted by Mark Hodgkinson at the Town Hall Auditorium, June 1, 7 p.m. Reviewed by Philip Norman. This second new music prelude by Continuum attracted considerably fewer concertgoers than the first. The absence of a drawcard was the principal reason, I suspect. Last time, many listeners were lured to the auditorium by the world premiere of “The Tourists Hear • the Corroborees.” The mix of a recent and locally written work with a twentieth century classic such as Varese’s "Octandre” provided an ideal pre-subscription concert cocktail.

The success of the formula cries out for repetition. I would happily have swapped the very worst of local writing for the work by Peter Maxwell Davies that opened last evening’s new music prelude.

"Veni Sancte — Veni Creator Spiritus,” dating from the early 1960 s and appearing here in its instrumental sextet version, is>a prime example of dry avSnt garde rhetoric.

It is in two parts. The first offers a transcription of a long chant by the fifteenth-century English composer, John Dunstable, and the second, Davies’ reaction to, or fantasia upon, the material of the chant.

I could not make up my mind which was the more tedious. Nor could I hear any relationship between the two.

The performance by Continuum, lacking in both commitment and colour, did not help matters. Dynamics often strayed into the sub-audible range — on occasions it seemed as if the conductor, Mark Hodgkinson, was beating nothing but thin air. The performance of Ligeti’s “Six Bagatelles for Wind Quintet” was an entirely different kettle of fish. There was a vivacity to Hodgkinson's interpretation of this set of charming miniatures that readily captured the ear. Some unruly horn sounds at the opening aside, the delivery was clean. All six players contributed neatly-crafted solo lines and blended with a pleasing degree of ensemble cohesion. The tricky asymmetric rhythms of Nos 3, 4 and 6 wert» deftly ascribed. '