(Patmore Lewis, violin; Rohan De Silva or John Nauman, piano in the sonatas; Elemental Flow adds to Lewis’ violin, bass, percussion, two keyboards, soprano and baritone voices)
Talk about crossover… I don’t know quite how to handle this CD. It’s the debut album from a composer and violinist in the Tucson area who is making an artistic contribution to a project to draw attention to a mostly dry riverbed that runs thru Tucson, which was once a year-round river. He has composed and solos in the title track of this CD, Elemental Flow, joined by string bass, percussion, synths, and voices of a soprano and baritone singer. There are also sound effects of some voices of nature, such as coyote, bird song and the rustle of bats. The work takes the listener from primordial times to the present, ending with an evocation of the burning sun and desert and asking “Can we repair the damage?”
The remainder of the program consists of standard works for violin and piano. The Richard Strauss is a popular work for this duo, and the recent composition by Alan Seidler follows a similar structure but is more urban and American-sounding; Patmore refers to it as “Coplanesque.” It’s difficult to speak of the opening world/classical/New Age selection. I’m sure it was very pertinent and moving when performed for thousands in the Tucson area, but on this CD for repeated listening, it will probably leave many head-scratching listeners. The violin-piano program is listenable, but with so many expert new violinists playing and recording today, one who fails to match the level of the other recordings of the Richard Strauss and Zymanowski selections will have a difficult time.
– John Sunier
