Wholenote, Toronto
February, 2008

The Winds of Thera – music of Andrew P MacDonald
By David Olds

Canadian composer Andrew Paul MacDonald’s extensive output ranges from vocal settings to large orchestral works and he received the 1995 JUNO Award for Best Classical Composition for his Violin Concerto. Like Röntgen, MacDonald’s music is not necessarily of its time – no envelopes are being pushed here – but also like Röntgen’s it is very well crafted and has a personal, expressive voice. “The Winds of Thera” (Centrediscs CMCCD 12407) is the latest CD devoted to MacDonald’s work and it was released by the Canadian Music Centre just before Christmas. It features accordionist Joseph Petric, oboist Normand Forget and the Penderecki String Quartet performing works written especially for them. Commissioned by Petric, the 1997 title piece successfully balances the free-bass accordion with string quartet and exploits the range of colours available to these “bellows and bows”. Petric and Forget, who perform frequently as a duo, are featured in the only piece which doesn’t involve strings, Primavera (after Botticelli) a somewhat angular and expressive work involving extended techniques written for the duo’s 2006 summer tour of Nova Scotia. The Penderecki’s Jeremy Bell and Christine Vlajk are featured in Hymenaeus, a wedding processional and dance for violin and viola. Acting as a book-end to the work for accordion and strings with which the disc begins, Pythikos nomos dating from one year earlier, is a quintet for oboe and strings. MacDonald requires the oboist to double on English horn and oboe d’amore. Again colouration is a key factor and I love these sonorities which remind me of one of my favourite miniatures, Benjamin Britten’s Phantasy Quartet for oboe and strings. Originally written for Lawrence Cherney and the Penderecki quartet, Normand Forget proves himself more than up to the multi-tasking lead, alternating warmth and lovely tone with barking multi-phonics as required. Concert note: The Penderecki Quartet performs for the Algoma Conservatory Concerts in Sault Ste. Marie on February 9 and at the Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber Music Society on February 13.

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