Anthony Romaniuk - On Modes - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Anthony Romaniuk, multi-keyboardist, alchemist of pianos, or 'musical polyglot' as some people call him, presents his new album as follows 'I remember very clearly the occasions in my childhood when I would be at a concert and a magical feeling would overtake both the audience and the performers. It was as though everyone in the room was part of the performance and we were all experiencing a kind of collective bliss. As an adult I have tried to understand this phenomenon of communal concentration. It seems to me that a certain kind of musical work will naturally induce this state, works in which the rhythm is hypnotic, trance-like and ongoing. For this album, I wanted to find music embodying this quality, pieces in perpetual motion.' As if in some fascinating portrait gallery, we meet music by Kapsberger, Scarlatti, Purcell, Bach, Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann, Shostakovich, Stravinsky, Ravel, Satie, Ligeti, Adams, and improvisations, played on a Fazioli concert piano, a Graf fortepiano from 1835, a Flemish muselar, a seventeenth-century harpsichord, a Yamaha CP80 electro-acoustic piano and a Prophet Rev2 synthesizer. Album Tracks 1. China Gates 2. Uppon la Mi Re 3. Prelude in a Major 4. Toccata in E minor 5. Piano Sonata No. 17 (Finale) 6. Etude No. 2 7. Toccata Arpeggiata 8. Etude No. 4 (Fanfares) 9. Perpetuum Mobile 10. A New Ground 11. Prelude (Vif) from Le Tombeau de Couperin 12. Pièces Froides (Danses de Travers) 13. Impromptu, D.899 No. 3 14. Faschingsschwank Aus Wien, Op. 26 (Intermezzo) 15. Prelude No. 2 16. Piano Sonata, K043 (I. ?=112) 17. Improvisations Upon 'Uppon la Mi Re' 18. Shadings 19. Parabola

An Australian who studied early music, harpsichord and fortepiano in New York, Anthony Romaniuk also has a passion for improvisation, independent rock and electronic music. This musical polyglot collaborates regularly with the violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja, the vocal ensemble Vox Luminis, the tenor Reinoud Van Mechelen and the cellist Pieter Wispelwey. For his first solo album, he has spent ten years exploring almost ten centuries of music, which he has decided to play on four different keyboards harpsichord, fortepiano, piano and Fender Rhodes. Fascinated by low sustained notes (known as 'pedal points', the descendants of drones) - hence the title Bells - Anthony Romaniuk exceeds the boundaries of classical orthodoxy, ranging from Mozart to Crumb. An incredible compendium of music and emotions that enables us to discover Rameau, Byrd, Beethoven, Debussy, Purcell in a new light. We go from Bartók's Mikrokosmos to a fascinating medieval melody that he has harmonized like a jazzman. Thanks to the delicate timbre of the Fender Rhodes, we hear Bach quite differently, alongside Chick Corea's magical Children's Songs. Album Tracks 1. Mikrokosmos (Bagpipe Music) 2. English Suite No. 2 (Prélude) 3. Préludes, Book I (Voiles) 4. Musica Ricercata (VII) 5. The Bells 6. Makrokosmos, Vol. II (Twin Suns) 7. Bagatelle Op. 126 No. 4 (Presto) 8. Romanian Folk Dances (Pê-Loc) 9. Musica Callada, Book II (XIII) 10. Adagio in B minor (With Improvised Prelude) 11. Children's Song 12. Musica Callada, Book I (IV) 13. Sonata No. 15 (Iv. Rondo) 14. Musette en Rondeau 15. Orlof, Vrauwe, Ende Ic Moet Gaen 16. Fantasia Upon One Note 17. English Suite No. 2 (Bourrée) 18. Kora (Improvisation) 19. Improvisation on Der Leiermann 20. Prélude and Fugue No. 1 (With Improvised Prélude)

Album Tracks 1. Toccata 2. Corrente 3. Volta 4. Passamezzo 5. Saltarello 6. Toccata 7. Corrente 8. Volta 9. Volta 10. Toccata 11. Fantasia Terza 12. Toccata 13. Corrente 14. Corrente 15. Corrente 16. Passamezzo 17. Saltarello 18. Toccata 19. Volta 20. Volta 21. Volta 22. Volta 23. Toccata in D minor 24. Calliope 25. Polymnia 26. Urania 27. Toccata 28. Corrente 29. Corrente 30. Volta 31. Toccata 32. Corrente 33. Corrente 34. Volta 35. Toccata in F Major