Nova Pon: Symphonies of Mother and Child - Turning Point Ensemble; Owen Underhill

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Composers who venture into the realm of chamber work do so at their own peril, especially when they de rigueur must live up to the brilliant standards set by older contemporaries and look over their shoulders at past masters such as Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and Bartók. But Nova Pon, for one, has gone past intimidation to produce a long piece World Within, and the significant five-movement Symphonies of Mother and Child.

It is clear from the first strains of World Within that the composer knows the importance of embracing the past while going her own way. The swirling gestures at the outset are like jolts of Bartók that quickly give way to Pon’s forceful and expressive sound world. Likewise, the organically arranged five movements of Symphonies of Mother and Child give the correct impression of being an intensely felt work from solemn to invigorating ideas, with ample contrapuntal interplay to keep the narratives rich and layered. 

The performers of the Turning Point Ensemble show how masterfully attuned to the vision and artistry of Nova Pon and how deeply they have interiorised this music in their idiomatically turned-out recital.

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