When I was a teenager, I was accepted as a participant in a poetry-writing seminar. At the seminar, one thing under discussion was the potential power of openings, and, indeed, titles. One of the poet-teachers was John Hodgen, who has, for example, the intriguingly-titled poem, "For Mr. Grimes Who Tried To Teach Me Physics After My Father Died." This month's CCM is partially intriguing because the recording contains two concertos, both of which use a percussion orchestra, but one of which uses "and" and the other of which uses "with" in its title. The specification of the percussion as comprising the "orchestra" elevates their position in the works as beyond mere background (literally) accompanists, and one could argue that the use of "and" elevates them further by the mere fact that the implication is that they are nearly on level footing as the nominative soloist, the violin. Further complicating the story is that the work's original title was not in English, but rather in Esperanto of all things: "Koncherto por la Violono Kun Perkuta Orkestra."

These are lovely things to contemplate, but it does no good if the composer doesn't deliver the goods. Predictably, and happily, Harrison does. His innovative and pioneering work in what became known as "World Music," and his incorporation of it, as well as unusual percussion sounds, into his works is well known. Listen to the end of the Concerto for Violin and Percussion Orchestra and note his ingenuity and his great sense of balance and rhythmic propulsion. And, as a bonus, despite outward appearances, he more-or-less manages to avoid the dreaded "Bartók effect".