Always an advocate of craft, Leslie Bassett demonstrated his own solid workmanship in the compositions presented here. Although none are avant-garde or especially innovative, they are representative of the best academic music produced in the mid-twentieth century. Variations for Orchestra, winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 1966, is serially derived, but not strictly dependent on the row. Like his contemporary Elliott Carter, Bassett took what he could use from twelve-tone theory, but composed intuitively and with considerable freedom. The liberating influences of Berg and Varèse are strong in this work. The four distinct phrases of the introduction correspond to contrasting pairs of variations, yet they are reconciled at the work's end. Unusual instrumental combinations and delicate timbres make the Variations a fresh and attractive work. Echoes From an Invisible World was inspired by effects Bassett found in electronic music, yet does not employ taped sounds. The dominant mood is one of hushed awe, though Bassett's explorations include some active wind writing. The Sextet for piano and strings is full of
Bartókian devices, such as snap pizzicati, glissandi, and special bowing techniques. Without direct imitation, the writing nonetheless demonstrates how well the older composer's ideas had been assimilated in Bassett's practice.