It was a good idea for Bridge to gather together Poul Ruders’ complete works for guitar as composed for David Starobin, the virtuoso who probably has done more for his instrument than anyone else alive. I already have had the pleasure of recommending the wonderfully inventive Paganini Variations, and if you enjoyed that work you certainly will want to sample the others included here. Of the two solo pieces, Chaconne is a chip off the master’s workbench, but Etude and Ricercare is a major statement (slightly more than 13 minutes) and Starobin plays it magnificently, sustaining the polyphonic web of the Ricercare with great confidence and showing a real mastery of the long line on an instrument that’s not inherently suited to contrapuntal expression.
Ruders’ Psalmodies (Guitar Concerto No. 1) is a suite of 11 characterful pieces for soloist and nine instruments. The composer himself joins Speculum Musicae playing the metal wind chimes, the only percussion instrument called for. Each brief movement has a title (“A Fanfare for All”, “Six in the Air”, “A Prayer with Halo”) and Ruders alternates between genuine solos, mixed groups, and the full ensemble, yielding a work full of invention that offers a surprisingly wide range of expression given the forces involved. It goes without saying that Starobin and the ensemble play marvelously, and we can assume that the presence of the composer lends the performance his personal stamp of approval. In short, this disc represents everything expected of a contemporary music disc: worthy music superbly played and recorded by the artist that inspired it. You can’t ask for more than that. [3/22/2004]
