LEONARDO CORAL (b.1962): Concerto for Piano and Chamber Ensemble, 5 Piezas fantásticas for Violin and Piano, Abstracciones for Flute, Clarinet and Piano Trio, 3 movimentos for Flute and Piano, Visiones for Viola and Piano, 7 Preludios for Percussion, Interludio for Solo Flute, Elegía for Guitar.

Description: As in the previous discs we've offered of Coral's music (01R070 and 01R071) this collection shows the composer's versatility and approachability across a wide range of idioms. All the pieces are short and portray Coral as a master miniaturist; not a note is wasted and every gesture contributes to the musical argument. The Concerto makes very free use of a dodecaphonic row, but in other respects its succinct three-movement form - a vigorous toccata, an elegiac slow movement and an energetic rondo - and slightly abrasive Bartokian harmony distance the work from any suggestion of academic serialism and lend it a lively, appealing quality. Many of the works here inhabit the styles and soundworlds of Impressionism (the two modal, atmospheric flute pieces) or neo-romanticism (the very appealing Fantastic Pieces, the somberly lustrous Visions, Abstractions, a cyclic four-movement structure presenting contrasting moods derived from similar material), in which the composer seems equally comfortable. The percussion Preludes alternately explore lively rhythms and glowing sonorities; the pieces are brief and diverting rather than attempting the kind of 'sonic spectacular' sometimes associated with percussion pieces, while the melodically and harmonically rich guitar Elegy commemorates the great Japanese guitar maker Masaru Kohno in a sad meditation that contains reflective echoes of the guitar's Spanish heritage and inflections of Japanese traditional music. Ónix Ensemble.