Murray McLachlan - Clarinet Sonatas - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

After setting three of his friend Pierre Louÿs's 1894 prose poems in Les Chansons de Bilitis, Debussy was asked by him to provide incidental music for a mimed recitation of another 12 poems. A single performance was given on 7 February 1901, after rehearsals of which Louÿs wrote 'I'm spending every afternoon with naked women. It's nice.' The poems were spoofs on those by Sappho, supposedly a friend of the non-existent Bilitis, and a review praised the music as 'ingeniously archaic'. Debussy's scoring evokes the imagined sound of ancient Greece the two flutes represent the aulos, associated with satyrs and the Dionysian cult; and the two harps speak for the kythara, associated with Apollo. Interwoven with the music is the bright sound of the celesta, the metal instrument patented by Auguste Mustel in 1886 that constitutes a meeting point between the Apollonian and the Dionysian. The missing celesta part of the incidental music, no doubt taken by Debussy himself, was recreated by Arthur Hoérée. In 1914 Debussy reworked passages of the music in his Épigraphes antiques for piano duet. Although the Chansons and the Epigraphes have often been recorded, they are very rarely recorded together with the incidental music, making this new album a uniquely cohesive and attractive album presenting Debussy at his most sensuous and Orientalist. There is a postlude to the album which continues it's theme with Syrinx for solo flute, Debussy's dreamy evocation of the god Pan that also had it's origins in music for the stage. Distinguished Italian musicians have joined forces to form the Magadis Ensemble. The ensemble's flexible line-up and wide repertoire focuses on vocal and instrumental chamber music by 20th- and 21st-century composers such as Debussy, Ravel, Dallapiccola and Scelsi. Album Tracks 1. Chansons de Bilities for Voice and Piano 2. Musique de Scène Pour Les Chanso

McLachlan has long had a fine reputation as a performer of Russian music, as well as championing brilliant but little-known composers such as Williamson and Chisholm (see the composer index). on this CD, he presents the Piano Sonatas 1 and 2 by Shostakovich with works by composers in his circle; though not Russian, the piece by Roland Stevenson is included both because it is based on Shostakovich's name, but also because Stevenson, politically, can genuinely be called a 'comrade' of those devoted to Socialism but fighting the Stalinist regime. Album Tracks 1. Allegro Con Moto 2. Andante Cantabile 3. Allegro Giocoso 4. Andante Catabile 5. Allegro Assai 6. Piano Sonata No 1 Op 12 7. Recitative and Air 8. Allegretto 9. Largo 10. Moderato 11. Concerto for Piano Solo

Most of the piano works of McCunn (whose operas are being rediscovered), McEwen, and Mackenzie, who is acknowledged to be one of Elgar's main influences, are on this disc, all for the first time. Pieces ranging in mood from Chopin to Debussy via Liszt, and all with an unmistakable Scottish lilt. Voted one of the best CDs of 1996 by InchScotland's MusicInch Album Tracks 1. Scottish Dances (6), for Piano, Op 28 Welcome Dance 2. Scottish Dances (6), for Piano, Op 28 Kerchief Dance 3. Scottish Dances (6), for Piano, Op 28 Gillie's Dance 4. Scottish Dances (6), for Piano, Op 28 Dirk Dance 5. Scottish Dances (6), for Piano, Op 28 Plaid Dance 6. Scottish Dances (6), for Piano, Op 28 Farewell Dance 7. Valse, for Piano 8. Sketches (4) for Piano Prelude 9. Sketches (4) for Piano Quasi Minuetto 10. Sketches (4) for Piano Elegy 11. Sketches (4) for Piano Humoreske 12. Sonatina for Piano in G minor Allegro Con Moto 13. Sonatina for Piano in G minor Andante Semplice 14. Sonatina for Piano in G minor Scherzo-Finale 15. Keats Preludes (3) for Piano A White Naïad 16. Keats Preludes (3) for Piano A Rapt Seraph 17. Keats Preludes (3) for Piano The Dew By Fairy Feet 18. On Southern Hills, for Piano White Oxen 19. On Southern Hills, for Piano Drifting Clouds 20. On Southern Hills, for Piano L'improvisadou 21. Vignettes (5) À la Côte D'argent, for Piano Petite Chérie 22. Vignettes (5) À la Côte D'argent, for Piano Les Hirondelles 23. Vignettes (5) À la Côte D'argent, for Piano Pantalon Rouge 24. Vignettes (5) À la Côte D'argent, for Piano Crépuscule Du Soir Mystique 25. Vignettes (5) À la Côte D'argent, for Piano La Rosière 26. Odds and Ends (Par CI, Par LÀ), for Piano, Op. 83 Refrain 27. Odds and Ends (Par CI, Par LÀ), for Piano, Op. 83 High Spirits 28. Chasse Aux Papillons, for Piano 29. Morceaux (3)