Nils Frahm: You Context Composed for solo piano, You features on Nils Frahm’s 2012 album Screws. During 2012, Frahm had broken his thumb and had to subsequently cancel many of his live shows. This gave him an unexpected break from touring, and so he sat at his piano and played Read more…
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor: Deep River Context Born in August 1875 in Holborn, London, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor started learning the violin at a young age. At first it was Coleridge-Taylor’s maternal grandfather that taught him until he saw his obvious abilities and paid for him to have professional lessons. At age 15, Coleridge-Taylor Read more…
Sergei Prokofiev: Toccata Context Sergei Prokofiev’s Toccata in D minor (Op.11) was composed in 1912. Prokofiev himself premiered the work some years later in December 1916. Similar to some of his contemporaries like Ravel and Khachaturian, Prokofiev’s Toccata is a development to the toccata form made famous by the likes Read more…
Yiruma: Kiss the Rain Context Yiruma, born Lee Ru-ma, is a South Korean-British composer and pianist. Born in 1978 in South Korea, Yiruma moved to England in 1988 to study at the prestigious Purcell School of Music, and then at King’s College London where he studied composition. Whilst studying at 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…
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…