McPHEE: “Tabuh-Tabuhan”; HARRISON: Suite for Symphonic Strings;...

McPHEE: “Tabuh-Tabuhan”; HARRISON: Suite for Symphonic Strings; UNG: “Inner Voices.” American Composers Orchestra, Dennis Russell Davies, conductor. Argo 444 560-2.

These three works are touched by the Far East in various ways and to different degrees. Colin McPhee’s 1936 “Tabuh-Tabuhan,” an early flowering of Minimalism, translates Balinese gamelan into a big, pulsing, glittery orchestral soundscape--its simple harmonies and vibrant ostinatos a kind of musical equivalent to Gauguin’s lush greens, vivid oranges and vibrant native images.

Although Lou Harrison’s 1960 Suite has its Pacific Rim credentials in order, it also evokes Classical Greece in its rustic dances and pastoral calm; its slow movements are especially pointed and elegant.

Cambodian American composer Chinary Ung is, surprisingly, the least Asian in his 1986 “Inner Voices.” Written for a large orchestra with a huge array of percussion, this is slow-moving yet exotically busy music--peppery dissonance and filigreed sparkle floating in a sostenuto soup--and therefore like a lot of other music these days. All pieces are beautifully recorded and well played.