Following on from Brian Davidson’s collection of nine pieces, ‘The Music Box’ (reviewed in July/August 2023), we now have a charming five-movement Scottish Suite for intermediate players. ‘Ode to Allan Ramsay’ – that is, to the influential Scottish poet/playwright from the early Enlightenment – may be influenced by minimalism but is no less evocative for that. Einaudi, Lord of the Rings and even the bass ostinato of one of Chick Corea’s most famous ‘Children’s Songs’ never seem far away in this wistful miniature. ‘By the banks of the Tweed’ and ‘West Linton Gig’ flow fleetingly and respectfully with tartan overtones aplenty. An extensive piece at the centre of the Suite, ‘Bonny Charlie’s Lament’, makes powerful use of bass ostinatos over which the melodic line is allowed to soar. Perhaps most striking of all is the final number, ‘Air in memory of Ronald Stevenson’, where poignant, expressive gestures are essayed with concentrated ease, again over evocative and cumulatively repetitive left-hand figurations. Beautifully crafted music.

This review originally appeared in the SPRING 2025 issue of International Piano