Brian Byrne, The RTÉ Concert Orchestra - Tales From The Walled City (2012)

Irish composer Brian Byrne has been active in both his home country and the U.S., in the latter specifically in Los Angeles, both in pop music and in the film industry. His Tales from the Walled City -- the Walled City is Derry, Ireland -- make up an eight-part suite of short pieces that heavily reflect the latter influence. Curiously, the piece arose in response to a commission for which Byrne agreed to write a four-minute jazz piece; there is little evidence of jazz in the finished product. The two single-movement pieces are more pop-oriented, and work quite well. Shall I Compare Thee, very nicely sung in a crossover vein by Danielle de Niese -- she gets the essence of this vocal style, which is to force a lot of tone out through a rather quiet, microphone-oriented delivery -- takes Shakespeare for its text and molds it nicely to a contemporary style. The violin-and-orchestra piece Lament for the Fallen may appeal to fans of the Scots violinist Nicola Benedetti, but it's a more generic work. The Concerto for saxophone and orchestra is in a different vein yet, a bit more modernist in harmonic idiom, but with stylings (although not rhythms) in the solo part that are indeed reminiscent of jazz. It's not clear that Byrne has a personal vision that compels him to compose in a certain way, but he has a knack for appealing to a variety of audiences. He leads the fine RTÉ Concert Orchestra here, and these are doubtless accurate realizations of the composer's intentions.