Southern Lament: Piano music by Stephen Montague

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…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... — BBC Music Magazine, April 2006, 4 out of 5 stars More…

Release Date: 6th Feb 2006
Catalogue No: NMCD118
Label: NMC
Length: 79 minutes

Usually despatched in 3 - 4 working days

Montague: Southern Lament

Work length17:25

$3.55

$5.20

Philip Mead, Monica Acosta

I. John Henry

Track length9:48

$1.50

$2.60

II. Nobody Knows the Troubles I've Seen

Track length7:37

$2.05

$2.60

Montague: 5 Easy Pieces

Work length4:29

$2.50

$2.60

Philip Mead
Elysian Quartet

Midnight Sun

Track length2:44

$1.00

$1.30

Chorale for a Millennium Sunset

Track length1:45

$1.50

$1.30

Montague: Autumn Leaves

Work length12:02

$3.50

$3.90

Stephen Montague, Philip Mead

Headless Horseman

Track length1:58

$1.50

$1.30

Thanksgiving Hymn

Track length6:01

$1.00

$1.30

A Crippled Ghost at Halloween

Track length4:03

$1.00

$1.30

5 Easy Pieces

Work length1:07

$1.00

$1.30

Philip Mead
Elysian Quartet

5 Easy Pieces: Beyond the Milky Way

Track length1:07

$1.00

$1.30

Kosma: Les feuilles mortes

Work length1:06

$1.00

$1.30

Stephen Montague

Autumn Leaves: Dagger Dance

Track length1:06

$1.00

$1.30

Montague: Paramell Va

Work length7:48

$1.00

$2.60

Philip Mead

Montague: Haiku

Work length13:28

$1.00

$3.85

Stephen Montague, Philip Mead

Kosma: Les feuilles mortes

Work length3:59

$2.00

$2.60

Stephen Montague, Philip Mead

Night Frost Settles on a Pumpkin

Track length2:00

$1.00

$1.30

Something's in Grandma's Attic

Track length1:59

$1.00

$1.30

Montague: For Merce C. at the Barbican

Work length3:08

$1.00

$1.30

Stephen Montague

Montague: After Ives …

Work length14:28

$4.00

$5.20

Philip Mead, Nancy Ruffer
Elysian Quartet, London Sousa Band
Stephen Montague

I. What a Friend We Have in Jesus

Track length4:35

$1.00

$1.30

II. Songs of Childhood

Track length2:50

$1.00

$1.30

III. Wayfaring Stranger

Track length3:20

$1.00

$1.30

IV. Forever J.P.S.

Track length3:43

$1.00

$1.30

Reviews
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Reviews

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.

Southern Lament

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