The cat is out of the bag. Now that tonality is virtually mandatory again, we are finding out the awful truth about years of sloppy writing. Back then, bad music was hiding behind `innovations' that masked the simple fact that you couldn't tell the `right notes' from the `wrong' ones. [Boy! Am I going to get it...:[ But now -- for example, today, at the Bay Area Composer Symposium in Marin -- it's clear that unison, silly-simple, almost-but-not-quite-ostinato formula writing is very much with us... and it has no place to hide. Of course, there are exceptions, and I will report only on that, not the other stuff. For a good number of years now, I've been listening to new works by Mark Volkert with growing admiration. The former concertmaster of the Marin Symphony and now an associate concertmaster of the San Francisco Symphony has orchestral and chamber-music works premiered by both organizations, but I don't know if he has been heard elsewhere besides the Carmel Bach Festival during Sandor Salgo days. Volkert's `Psalm' was one of the works presented at the symposium today, the Marin Symphony under Gary Sheldon's direction rehearsing it in public at a first run-through. Even under those circumstances, the 14-minute piece was gripping, instantly accessible, and wanting to be heard again. Stretching harmonic boundaries, with soaring woodwinds against the rich texture of the strings, `Psalm' is lyrical, dramatic, and speaks to the heart. A turbulent passage near the end is less successful than the main body; the resolution is fine but too `standard' -- from Volkert. The work has great solos for the woodwinds and the principal cello (the excellent Mrs. Volkert). The next composer, Ronald McKean (whose `Moonphase' excerpt was fun to hear), proposed to continue listening to Volkert's work instead of presenting his. `Psalm' will be heard again on the Marin Symphony's March subscription concerts. Volkert's String Quartet No. 4 is due in Davies Hall on June 20, and his yet-unnamed work for the SFS Youth Orchestra will be performed in the fall. Janos Gereben/SF [log in to unmask]