The last 'Two New Hours,' CBC FM's Sunday night new CM show, closed with
an octet for strings by US composer Steve Mackey (b.  1956).

During an amusing preamble to the (Vancouver?) audience, he admitted to
wondering, quite seriously, too, if it might come to gain a reputation
equalling that of Mendelssohn's famous Octet.  Though I'm no Mendelssohn
fan, I'm familiar with that work.  I thought:  this guy's setting himself
up for disappointment, bigtime.

But then I heard it:  a most impressive composition.  Verbose, in that the
players were given plenty to express, often lively and with a crisp pace
and sense of direction, nothing about the octet was even remotely opaque or
obscurantist.  At the same time, it never struck me as easy-going, cliched,
or shallow.  I suspect it's tonal, though there's little about it that
might be called conservative.  I'd really need to hear it again to say
anything more concrete about it, other than that I was riveted for as long
as it lasted.  If this work is representative, I'd say this is a major
voice.

The host, Larry Lake, later told me that Mackey teaches at Princeton and
his home page is:  http://www.music.princeton.edu/~steve/ He called the
octet "Gaggle and Flock"; it was apparently being premiered, and is brand
new.  Through http://www.mymusic.com I see that he's a guitarist as well as
composer, that his works are scattered about several CDs, and that he's got
one RCA CD (2RC 63826) out, with M.  Tilson Thomas and the New World
Symphony.

Anyone familiar with this composer? I'd be interested in hearing your
comments and/or recommendations, on or off-line.

Bert Bailey, in Ottawa
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