NED ROREM: “Winter Pages”; “Bright Music.” Bridgehampton...

NED ROREM: “Winter Pages”; “Bright Music.” Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival. New World Records 80416-2. This elegantly crafted music from the 1980s shows Rorem as a civilized, resourceful and entertaining musical pictorial artist--line drawings, mostly--for small ensemble. ‘Winter Pages,’ a 12-movement work for mixed quintet, evokes a series of images, both snowy and nostalgic, many suggested by snatches of poetry. The music, contrapuntal and songful, acerbic and sweet, impulsive and pensive by turns, derives from Satie, Poulenc, Stravinsky and Thomson without losing its individuality. The instrumentation is keenly judged. “Bright Music,” on the other hand, tends to get too sentimental for its own good; it is best when Rorem leaves melody behind. The performances, by members of the Bridgehampton Festival in New York, sparkle.