{TABLE} Synnx ....................... Debussy Muziek voor Altblokfluit .... Rob du Bois Meditation .................. Ryohei Hirose Psyche ...................... Fergus Johnsion Sweet Louis ................. Andriessen {/TABLE} THE last concert in the Bank of Ireland Mostly Modern series took place last week in the bank's Arts Centre at Foster Place, Dublin. The accomplished recorder playing of New Zealand born Peter Wells was one of the high points of this six month long series.
Since coming under the artistic direction of Benjamin Dwyer, Mostly Modern has, on the whole, lived up to its name. Most of this season's nine concerts were devoted to music written within the last 30 years or so, and there have been premieres of new works.
Giving each concert a theme music from eastern Europe, from Switzerland etc - has been a strong point. However, some programmes were evidently constructed less out of what the organisers perhaps wanted than out of what the performers wished or were able to offer. Dealing with this limitation, which is by no means confined to Mostly Modern, is one of the challenges for the next series. If the challenge is met - no easy "task - Mostly Modern could become an important forum for contemporary music in Ireland. One is needed.
Peter Wells played Debussy's Syrinx, which is so impeccably designed for the transverse flute that the transition to recorder could never be in the music's interest. The other pieces were written since 1961 and showed how important Dutch and Japanese composers have been in developing a new recorder repertoire. Wells's playing brimmed with energy and purpose and conveyed clearly the lucid processes of Psyche, by Ireland's Fergus Johnston. He caught impeccably the flavour of two Dutch pieces from the 1960s, Muziek voor Altblokfluit by Rob du Bois and Sweet by Louis Andriessen. Their calculated anarchy, live a 1960s "happening", provoked noisy titters from some young members of the audience. Perhaps the most unconventional thing they have ever encountered is the text of rap.
