Dora Pejačević: Two Piano Sketches Context Dora Pejačević was born in Budapest on 10th September 1885, and her family descended from the old Croatian noble Pejačević family. Her mother, Countess Lilla Vay de Vaya was a very competent pianist and she gave Pejačević her first piano lessons when she was a young girl. Read more…
Sergei Prokofiev: Sonata for Two Violins Context Sergei Prokofiev composed his Sonata for Two Violins in 1932 for a commission from Triton, a new Paris-based society dedicated to showcasing new chamber music. The inaugural concert took place in December of the same year. With the permission from the commissioner, Prokofiev Read more…
Gerald Finzi: Five Bagatelles Context Just before he was drafted into the war in 1941, Gerald Finzi completed three short pieces for clarinet. He used “20 year old old bits and pieces” he still hadn’t used, with his consequently adding a fourth piece in 1943. The quartet of pieces were Read more…
Frédéric Chopin: Etude Op.25, No.12 ‘Ocean’ Context Etude No.12 from his Op.25 collection was the last of his formal studies for the piano. The set is dedicated to À Madame la Comtesse d’Agoult and was first published in 1837. The collection was published in a range of different languages including Read more…
John Adams: China Gates Context John Adams composed China Gates in 1977 for the then 17-year old pianist Sarah Cahill. A year later Adams wrote a companion work called Phyrgian Gates which uses some similar techniques to China Gates. When describing the work Adams has said that: “China Gates Read more…
Aaron Zigman: Main Title from The Notebook Context Aaron Zigman composed the soundtrack for the 2004 romantic drama The Notebook. The film was directed by Nick Cassavetes and writing by Jeremy Leven. The film stars young lovers Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams whose story is told during the present day Read more…
Selim Palmgren: Snöflingor Context Selim Palmgren (1878-1951) was a Finnish composer and conductor. He studied at the Music Conservatory in Helsinki, where he then pursued piano performance under the tutelage of Busioni and Berger. He made a small career out of being a concert pianist, where he toured to the Read more…
Phamie Gow: The Milky Way Context Scottish composer Phamie Gow is a multi-instrumentalist who was classically trained at the Royal Scottish Conservatoire. She studied under Ronald Stevenson and regularly undertook commissions, films and theatre work whilst studying. Since graduation, Gow has produced and released nine albums of her own original Read more…
Michael Nyman: The Heart Asks Pleasure First Context Michael Nyman’s solo piano piece The Heart Asks Pleasure First was composed as part of the 1993 film The Piano. On the album soundtrack Nyman plays all the piano parts himself, with this album being his twentieth album release. The soundtrack was Read more…
Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Sonata No.17 Context Ludwig van Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No.17 was composed between 1801-02. Often referred to as ‘The Tempest’, the nickname is said to have originated from a personal conversation between Beethoven and Anton Schindler. The Music Movement I – Largo-Allegro The opening bar and Read more…