Christopher Blake's Ribbonwood is Home (Ancient Journeys) … contains a number of strong and interesting cycles, and I hope this CD will bring his works the greater exposure they need to be taken into the repertoire of pianists everywhere. One suspects the three little pieces from Black on White were added as a sort of make-weight to fill the disc. Yet here is some of his most original and striking work: this is a cycle of occasional pieces which could well be published in the manner of Lilburn's Nine Short Pieces or even in the form of a New Zealand Mikrokosmos. More please.
The title (piece) of the album refers to the long cycle (in two parts) of the same name which documents or is inspired by eight South Canterbury rivers which Blake's father used to fish. An autobiographical and descriptive set of pieces, each takes the title and character of one of the individual rivers. For instance, the Opihi flows from slow quiet pools to active flurries; the Opuha displays agitated tremoli interrupted by short slow passages; and Hae Hae Te Moana makes a percussive climax: The set Ancient Journeys, a commission for Michael Houston for the 1992 New Zealand International Festival of the Arts, takes as its theme the exploration of déja vu. Reflections and recurrent rhythmic patternings give strength and variety, and the use of sostenuto pedal effects creates a fascinating aural element and is a contributing factor to the mirroring character of dreamy recollection. Yet it is the virtuoso brilliance and humour of the little piece 'Sequence' from Black on White that remains most vividly with me as I think of this CD: tonal broken chord runs based on a fragment of figuration from a Mozart piano concerto overlap and modulate in an endless toccata. The recording quality is excellent…
review edited
Gillian Bibby, Music in New Zealand
