The guitar music of
Sir Lennox Berkeley and
Michael Berkeley reflects in part their family's close friendship with guitar virtuoso
Julian Bream, whose lyrical performance style notably influenced the father's Sonatina, Op. 52/1 (1957), and the Sonata in One Movement (1982), and the Impromptu (1983) by the son. Yet the elder
Berkeley's guitar works also show the manners and techniques of other guitarists, most clearly
Andrés Segovia in the flamboyant, Spanish-flavored Pieces (4) pour la guitare, Op. posth. (1928), and Angelo Gilardino in the more subdued Theme and Variations, Op. 77 (1970).
Michael Berkeley's music is more abstract, tailored less to performers' styles than to technical possibilities and motivic manipulation. As a result, his Lament (1979), Worry Beads (1979), and the even the Sonata are fairly rarefied and perhaps not immediately gratifying, even though his tonal melodies and clear harmonies are easy to grasp.
Craig Ogden performs the
Berkeleys' works with spontaneous expression, clean articulation, and a virtuosic flair all his own; yet he plays off
Segovia's and
Bream's characteristics just enough to convey how their distinctive personalities colored the works written for them. Chandos provides fine sound, though the venue's resonant acoustics surround
Ogden with a slight aural haze.