Monday 8 September 2008

Christopher Howell: Stanford & the Piano

Christopher Howell has written an absolutely first class essay about Charles Villiers Stanford’s piano music.
He opens his paper with:- “This year, Promenade audiences heard for the first time, 92 years after a planned performance that fell through, the Second Piano Concerto by Charles Villiers Stanford (1852-1924). Additionally, a CD is being issued entitled Land of Sunset Glories and played by the present writer, offering a sequence of the composer’s solo piano music, most of it not previously recorded. This seems a good occasion to examine Stanford’s relationship to the piano more fully than programme or booklet notes allow.”

It is essential reading for anyone who is interested in this composer, in English music in particular or in piano music in general. It is well researched, informative and documented. It is the sort of article I wish that I had written! And I cannot wait to get my hands on this new CD…

Read it here at MusicWeb International

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