Getting on for 10 years ago (12/92)‚ I thought that Lyell Cresswell’s music would benefit from ‘a more modern faith in contrast and discontinuity’. Since that view was prompted by his handling of large­scale orchestral structures‚ the fact that the longest single section on this new CD is 13 seconds under six minutes should be good news – and so‚ up to a point‚ it proves. The earliest work‚ the Variations on a Theme by Charles Ives (1987)‚ is also the most immediately attractive. With such an obviously opposed pair of instruments as flute and cello‚ it is interesting to see what worthwhile points of contact can be established‚ and Cresswell‚ working with Ives’s nostalgic setting of ‘Songs my mother taught me’‚ has devised some beguilingly simple and well­integrated textures. The freshness and relish for musical understatement in the Variations are less prominent in the other compositions. Acquerello is an elegantly shaped study for piano in complementary patterns and moods and‚ like its three companion pieces for solo instruments – flute‚ violin and cello – it is so skilfully written that it might seem perverse to suggest that all four fail to challenge the players sufficiently. They are not technically easy to play‚ rather the ideas and their elaborations tend to run along rather formulaic lines. Atta (the Old Norse word for eight) ranges widely in texture and atmosphere during its eight movements‚ while Whira (the Maori word for violin or fiddle) is like a series of seven studies‚ working through clearly defined processes fluently if also rather predictably. Anake (Maori for ‘alone’) is likewise fluent to a fault‚ but the risk of sinking into routine is offset in the final lament‚ touchingly direct in the manner of some of the Ives variations. These performances and recordings will not easily be bettered.