Jonathan Powell - Piano Music 1 - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Grigory Krein (1879-1955), a member of an astonishing dynasty of Russian-Jewish musician-composers, was recognized by his contemporaries as one of the major composers of his day. His piano music charts a stylistic evolution from the early influence of Grieg, Reger (with whom he studied) and Debussy towards a more complex and chromatic language with harmonies that synthesize the sound-worlds of Skryabin and Szymanowski; there's also an echo of the rhapsodic Celtic wildness of Bax. Indeed, all of these pieces are informed by a remarkable sense of energy - latent in some and given it's head in others. Album Tracks 1. Deux Poèmes, Op. 5B 2. Cinq Préludes, Op. 5A 3. Prélude, Op. 5 4. Deux Poèmes, Op. 10 (Publ. 1915) 5. Poème, Op. 16 (1916) 6. Deux Mazurkas, Op. 19 (Publ. 1926) 7. Cortège Mystique, Op. 22 (1916) 8. Trois Poèmes, Op. 24 9. Sonata No. 2, Op. 27 (1924)

If any composer from the last hundred years can be said to have redefined the piano sonata, that composer is John White. A unique figure in British music, his vast compositional output documents a long involvement with the worlds of dance, theatre, experimentalism and electronica as well as with that of the concert hall. (Dave Smith, Senior Lecturer in Music, University of Hertfordshire.) InchI write a lot for piano for two main reasons being a pianist allows me to be in touch with a rich and exciting repertoire, which gives me a great variety of role models in terms of vocabulary and gesture with which to formulate and 'clothe' the ideas which come to me and seem to need expression. Being an idealistic rather than a InchcareerInch composer, I find the piano a handy vehicle for the uttering ('outering') of compositional thought, in that the inspiration goes directly into a performable medium without the salesmanship required for getting ensemble pieces played.Inch (John White, in conversation with Sarah Walker. The New English Keyboard School A Second 'Golden Age' Leonardo Music Journal Vol. 11 2001) Album Tracks 1. Sonata No. 105 2. Sonata No. 106 3. Sonata No. 107 4. Sonata No. 120 5. Sonata No. 123 6. Sonata No. 127 7. Sonata No. 131 8. Sonata No. 132 9. Sonata No. 133 10. Sonata No. 136 11. Sonata No. 138 12. Sonata No. 139 13. Sonata No. 146 14. Sonata No. 147 15. Sonata No. 152 16. Sonata No. 153 17. Sonata No. 156 18. Sonata No. 164

Hans Winterberg, born in Prague in 1901, studied with Alexander Zemlinsky and Alois Haba. He worked as a conductor, pianist and composer until the annexation of the Czechoslovak Republic by Nazi Germany in 1939. As the scion of a Jewish family that had lived in Prague for centuries, he survived - after forced labor and deportation to Theresienstadt - through a series of miracles. Winterberg, whose compositional legacy has been rediscovered only recently, combines various influences in his music to create an original and exciting personal style. He takes up stylistic elements of Janacek but is also influenced by the Second Viennese School and French Impressionism. Eda records dedicates a focus to this important Czech-Jewish composer, who saw himself as a bridge-builder between the cultures of Eastern and Western Europe. Album Tracks 1. Sonate NR. 1-Agitato 2. Sonate NR. 1-Adagio 3. Sonate NR. 1-Molto Vivace 4. Sonate NR. 2-Agitato 5. Sonate NR. 2-Andante Sostenuto 6. Sonate NR. 2-Molto Vivace 7. Sonate NR. 3-Molto Vivace 8. Sonate NR. 3-Molto Adagio 9. Sonate NR. 3-Vivace 10. Sonate NR. 4-Allegro Con Moto 11. Sonate NR. 4-Verhalten, Ruhig 12. Sonate NR. 4-Allegro Vivace 13. Sonate NR. 4-Äußerst Bewegt 14. Sonate NR. 5-Ruhig Fließend 15. Sonate NR. 5-Langsam 16. Sonate NR. 5-Lebhaft, Nicht Zu Schnell 17. Sonate NR. 5-Allegro Molto Moderato