KLAAS TEN HOLT (b.1960): Bovary Chante for Soprano, Cimbalom and String Quartet, Sonata for Violin Solo (Joan Berkhemer).

Description: Flaubert's destructive, and ultimately self-destructive, Madame Bovary is presented vividly in this series of monologues in clear, dramatic narrative style. ten Holt's music is basically highly tonal and open of texture; repeated gestures (though not very much in the style of minimalism) and recurring themes provide a sense of unity and continuity. The distinctive timbre of the cimbalom complements the voice ingeniously in the bolder sections of the score, giving way to glacial string sounds as the heroine approaches her suicide - chillingly withdrawn and desolate music. The solo violin sonata begins with an obvious homage to Bach's famous Chaconne, and progresses by way of Paganini, La folia and the virtuosic gestures of the 19th-century to a more modern idiom, though never losing sight of the underlying tonality to which the composer's music always adheres. Ferocious double-stopping, trills and glissandi make the work something of a technical display piece, while its jaunty freedom of expression heightens its accessibility and entertainment value. Claron McFadden (soprano), Michiel Weidner (cimbalom), Mondriaan Quartet.