Rock 'n' Reel review of Sacred Landscapes

Cornish artist representation - Cornish Composer Sue Aston

Sacred Landscapes the Cornish CD - CD Reviews

Rock 'n' Reel

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Sue's a talented violin player whom I saw accompanying Pete Hawkes (from Australia) recently. She's been playing professionally for a while now on the classical circuit, mainly in the orchestral field, and recently played on a Gordon Giltrap album (Gordon returns the favour by guitaring on two tracks here.) All the music was written and arranged by Sue, there are 16 shortish mood-pictures, varied in genre and musical invention.

Many pieces exhibit distinctly classical stylings, ranging from Tchaikovsky and Sibelius to Mozart (especially the keyboard writing) and Michael Nyman. Other obvious models for individual pieces include Russian folksong, flamenco/Basque, medieval and Hungarian dance and folk-rock, whereas 'Pagan Celebration' could well have come from the Incredibles' music for 'Be Glad' and 'Spirit' has an Oldfield-type guitar solo.

'Madron' comprises a cadenza which wouldn't be out of place in a Romantic violin concerto. Sue's fine violin technique; elegant, sweet-toned and assured, her playing makes a virtue out of competence without descending to showiness.

I find ‘Sacred Landscapes’ imaginative and inspired; it may not be deep or portentous, but it does manage to convey some of the elemental qualities of the landscape and Sue's sincerity is never in doubt. Anyway, Sue's fine musicianship in itself makes the CD worth hearing. David Kidman

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