A personal and deeply felt expression of sorrow

Roger Thomas is impressed by the elegant skill and emotional conviction of this accomplished debut

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Shades Of Mourning

Original cello works Tamar Sagiv Sono Luminus SLE-7004133:39 mins

Given that all compositions are arguably revised improvisations and that improvisations can be thought of as unrevised compositions, performed at the moment of their creation, there's some particularly interesting territory existing between these two concepts.

Tamar Sagiv has made this her own with the improvisation-derived solo works on this recording, the theme of which is signalled by its title. In discussing this release, her debut as a composer/performer, she refers both to personal grief at the loss of a close family member and to conflict in the wider world, both of which she addresses.

Stylistically, her solo music is melodic and oddly timeless, and indeed placeless, somehow evoking both Bach and Dave Holland. An allusion to the music of her own culture is inevitable but facile given her focus on transcultural elements such as the keening vocalese she adds to her deeply dug and occasionally knowingly and deliberately under-refined instrumental lines.

Literally central to this release, however, is a set of elegant string trios that are as meticulous as their solo counterparts are spontaneous, not that either approach in any way loses out to the other. There's a discernible American influence to these pieces that brings to mind the quartets of Ives, Carter and Ruth Crawford Seeger, with Sagiv herself citing the use of elements derived from the work of Philip Glass.

Like the solo compositions that bookend this section, the pieces themselves are highly programmatic and undeniably heart-on-sleeve but avoid sentimental entrapment through their sheer conviction and resolute emotive force.

JS Bach

Cello Suites Anastasia Kobekina (cello) Sony Classical GO10005564113K 144:28 mins