This disc offers two recent, substantial chamber compositions by James MacMillan: 14 Little Pictures (1997) for piano trio, and the Sonata for cello and piano (1999). The differences in form are obvious, the expansive two-movement design of the sonata proving much more successful than the more kaleidoscopic sequence of the trio. Ringing the changes on the miniature scale of 14 Little Pictures seems to encourage MacMillan’s penchant for melodrama, and the material rarely rises above the routine. But the Cello Sonata is a different matter.
One of Macmillan’s main strengths is in finding new perspectives for old musical genres, and there are echoes here of the visionary force and depth of Bartok’s Second Violin Sonata, also in two movements. There are other Bartokian connections, too, like the repeated chords at the beginning of the second movement, but these serve only to enhance the music’s personal tone of voice. MacMillan’s naturally emphatic rhetoric has room to ebb and flow on this relatively broad scale, and the result is, to my mind, as effective in its very different way as the clarinet concerto Ninian, recently issued on a BIS CD (11/00).
The Cello Sonata’s impact is helped by a stunning performance – Raphael Wallfisch and John York identifying totally with the music’s volatile emotional trajectory. But all the performances, including those of the shorter pieces which complete the programme, are excellent. I was less taken with the recording, at least for 14 Little Pictures, which has a rather glassy quality. But such considerations count for little when a work as characterful as MacMillan’s Cello Sonata is being played.'