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 [log in to unmask]