Rachel Gauk is one of Canada's top guitar virtuosi and Omar Daniel is among Canada's most promising young composers and a professor of music at the University of Western Ontario. Daniel enjoys collaborating with expert performers, and his association with Gauk goes back to the 1980s. Since then Daniel has established himself comfortably in chamber music, winning a Jules Lèger award in 1997, as an orchestral composer and, since 2002, in opera. These pieces for Gauk represent Daniel's roots, and the works for solo guitar are exceptional, well-made pieces that take as a point of departure the Renaissance lute suite. Harmonically they are straightforward and develop very naturally, and Daniel is clearly playing to Gauk's strengths as a guitarist. This is contemporary music that one can unwind to, yet it never seems nostalgic or ingratiating, as the writing remains purposeful and focused. These are the strongest works on the disc; Only the eagle flies the storm for guitar and string quartet is somewhat tougher meat, but enjoys the benefits of dramatic intensity, rhythmic brio, and not a little rock & roll, particularly in the Allegro Barbaro movement. The weakest of the pieces, ironically, the title work -- while there is nothing wrong with the music or soprano Monica Whicher's singing of "My Angel," the text, written by Daniel, is not particularly strong poetry. Since "My Angel" was written in 1991, Daniel has worked extensively with poets, other writers, and with preexisting sources to fashion high-quality texts for his operas and choral works, so perhaps the point was well taken. In any event, Marquis Classics' My Angel remains a strong contender for listeners looking for contemporary music that will challenge them and not drive them crazy.
© TiVo