A Green and Yellow Melancholy

This month composer Colin Riley launches a label, Squeaky Kate Music, with three discs of mostly his own music. The plop of raindrops, the rustle of leaves, the unfolding of a flower; Riley has the ability to evoke nature with the simplest of means, a plucked harp or a flutter of strings. The central tracks are exquisite settings of a sequence of verses, sung by Alison Wells, with ensemble conducted by Mark Forkgen. The other two discs, jazzy and choral, are equally impressive.