Classical.

Byline: Peter Spaull

STEPHEN PRATT ends this year in some style. As Professor of Music at Liverpool Hope University he has been responsible for the successful Cornerstone Arts Festival, which ends tomorrow, and a CD is released devoted to his music.

Born in Liverpool six decades ago, Stephen has been a creative force at Christ's College, Woolton, and nowat Liverpool Hope University at Everton. And he has produced a slowbut steady flowof worthy compositions. Notable are Some of Their Number, premiered at the Phil in 1978 by Simon Rattle and repeated under Barry Wordsworth, and Uneasy Vespers from 1991 and a quantity of chamber music.

The Violin Concerto was premiered at Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool, in October, 2003, by soloist Anthony Marwood. I had tickets for the occasion, but sadly spent the duration of its performance 20,000 feet above Europe in an air ambulance following a debacle in Granada. So this recording of the first performance gives me an opportunity to hear it at last. It is, in any case, of value to those who heard it, because it is a work which repays several hearings. Pratt himself admits it is more of a concertante piece, positive enlightenment only being realised during the second part of the work. Frequently, the soloist plays against a fascinating shimmer of tuned percussion - harp, celesta and tuned drums. There is a disconcerting presence of quietly rumbling tympani throughout, although in the second part the violin, which is always lyrical, begins to dance. However, the overall atmosphere is sombre, even the orchestral outbursts soon abating. Gerard Schwarz secures good support from the RLPO.

Double Act was commissioned by the Capital of Culture Company tomark the anniversary of the Ensemble 10/10, who play it here under Clark Rundell.

Their first concert was at 10.10 on the tenth day of the tenthmonth, and so, the composer - always fascinated by numbers - gives the piece ten sections in which various instruments pair up together. Predominant are the cello (Hilary Browning) and the piano (Ian Buckle). Once again tuned percussion is to be heard, and there is a witty double bass, making for a fine composition.

Lovebytes, a song cycle, was premiered in 2003 by Patricia Rozario and is here sung by Claire Booth. These are settings of the poems Lonely is not the Word by Laura-Kate Gordon, A Lucky Charmby David Rees-Jones and De Profundis from Harbour by Adrian Henri.

There is also an intriguing oboe interlude before the final song. Altogether the CD, on the RLPO label and available at the Phil Shop, makes a good introduction to Capital of Culture Year. The Violin Concerto recording was sponsored by Gresham College, London, reflecting a period when the composer was Joint Professor of Music there with Joanna Macgregor, the remainder by Liverpool Hope University.