WILLIAM Conway has built up a reputation as a musical

jack-of-all-trades but, when it comes down to it, what he does best is

play the cello. In yesterday's lunchtime recital in the Westbourne Music

series, Conway unleashed a wonderfully emotional programme for solo

cello.

Composed around ten years ago by Conway's late father-in-law, John

Bevan Baker, Legend is a programmatic work depicting the tale of Joan of

Arc. The music embraces all of the emotions of the battlefield, from

fear and loneliness to ecstasy and triumph. Conway has a strong

communicative ability which allows each emotion to spring from the

fingerboard of his instrument, like words falling off a speaker's lips.

This performance spared nothing, left hand pizzicato and haunting

harmonics expanding his expressive range.

No solo cello recital is complete without a Bach suite: Conway chose

the fifth. Delicate ornamentation and sensitive turns of phrase

permitted the elegance of Bach's baroque dance forms to dominate as

opposed to the clinical technical qualities of the music. The second

movement was slow and stately, contrasting with the buoyant tempo of the

final Gigue.

To ''warm up'' his recital, Conway selected one of the earliest solo

works for the cello, the short Ricercar by Gabrieli. A busy piece, the

translation was tightly executed offering much dynamic and expressive

contrast.