Dank Op 1 No 1 - Schoenberg

Trois Melodies de Verlaine - Debussy

Three songs from Unter Sternen Op 54 - Schoeck

Evening Rain (1981) - James Dillon

Let Us Garlands Bring - Finzi

The inclusion of one song by Arnold Schoenberg and three songs by Othmar Schoeck, not to mention one by James Dillon, a representative of the "new complexity" , made Sunday's recital in the Lane Gallery of unusual interest.

In Schoenberg's Op. 1 the composer took the language of Brahms and Wagner to such a pitch that it became a caricature of itself: the performance made its over-ripeness palpable.

The songs by Debussy (La Mer est plus Belle, Le Son du Cor and L'Echelonnement des Hais) require a different approach if their subtleties of texture and colour are not to be coarsened and it was probably unwise to put them between Schoenberg and Schoeck. The singer's vibrato, allied to the reverberant acoustic, made the sound seem unfocused and neither performer used the necessary lightness. The three songs by Schoeck were treated more sympathetically and their expressive delicacy made one want to hear more of this distinguished Swiss composer. James Dillon's unaccompanied Evening Rain made use of many vocal techniques but dispensed with a text. Each aspect of the composition was rigorously controlled but the total effect was of a leisurely improvisation, with a strong suggestion of primitivism. Alistair Bamford delivered it with great skill.

Finzi's settings of five songs by Shakespeare were the most familiar items on the programme and singer and pianist (Brian Mackay) sang them with a keen appreciation of their merits.