Montague: Southern Lament

April 2006

****

“…what hits you time and again in this disc is Stephen Montague's reverence for sound (in a Cageian sense), and his reverence for a truthfulness that treads an adroitly-negotiated path between visceral immediacy and intellectual ingenuity.”

2010

“Stephen Montague is an American composerperformer who has lived in the UK for more than 30 years, during which time he has developed an enterprising international career. He honestly admits his sources in Ives, Cowell, Cage and minimalism, and the CD ends with four of his Studies 'after Ives'. That wonderful hymn tune 'What a friend we have in Jesus' (compare Montague's treatment with the third movement of Ives's Piano Sonata No 1) shows the unabated power of diatonic harmony, although there are surprises, and 'Forever JPS' is a spectacular which brings in the voice of Sousa himself as well as the London Sousa Band in Stars and Stripes.
Montague points out that when he borrows melodies, unlike Ives he usually quotes them complete. There's plenty of that with the varied settings of the tunes in Southern Lament. Then there are several short occasional pieces showing variety and ingenuity, but Haiku with live electronics and computer tape is more substantial.
This is a subtle, oriental-influenced piece with the live piano gracefully repetitive and the electronics sustaining this mood. When Montague uses electronics the sound is always beguiling; if he's minimalist he gets somewhere rather than being stuck in a groove; and he even manages to use tone-clusters with a light touch.
This is a consistently enjoyable portrait of a composer who knows how to focus his appeal.
Terrific performances from Philip Mead, all well recorded.”