HENRY HOWELL, Queensland.
Review source: Music Teacher Magazine Vol.10 No.3 (September-October 2003)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| PHILLIP WILCHER'S "LYRIC" REVIEWED | ||||||||||
|
||||||||||
| This song presents a very different style of writing from Phillip Wilcher. This is not the exquisite miniaturist I have come to know but a composer, setting one of Eliot's poems, in a passionate, full-blooded way. Dare I say a more mature composer? and a very interesting one.The piano part, on first glance, looks horrendous, and I found myself wondering if the composer had found it necessary to change the ink cartridge on his printer. Not only is this piano part a minefield of semiquavers, but the recommended tempo is allegro! However, her lip curling with scorn, my wife, a full time accompanist, informed me that once the rhythmic sequence is worked out, in regular rhythmic figures, it all falls neatly into place, and is only beyond the skills of a simple singer-writer, i.e. yours truly. Certainly, this is high calibre lieder, with a challenging part for the piano, which, combined with a lovely melody for the medium-upper voice, makes for a very 'meaty' song indeed, for both performers. Ideally, the singer should study, analyse, learn and memorise Eliot's poem before putting the music with it. For a rare, expanded song by Phillip Wilcher, I recommend this most highly. HENRY HOWELL, Queensland. Review source: Music Teacher Magazine Vol.10 No.3 (September-October 2003) |
|
My Favorite Links:http://www.geocities.com/phillipwilcher/moonflower.html | ||||||||