Grieg To The Spring

SOMM RECORDINGS is delighted to announce the release of Natural Connection, a captivatingly lyrical new recording by pianist Leon McCawley featuring music for solo piano inspired by the natural world.

These short salon pieces by Edvard Grieg have been recorded by many pianists. This recording from 1973 on the budget EMI Forte label is by the 21-year-old Israeli pianist Daniel Adni. Some of the earlier Lyric Pieces have been omitted from these discs in order to fit those that have been recorded onto two CDs. Still, we are treated to 57 of the 66 short pieces composed between 1867 and 1901 and published in ten Books. Four of the six pieces in Book V were subsequently orchestrated to form the Lyric Suite. A few run to just over five minutes, but most are considerably shorter - but none the less interesting and enjoyable. These are all original compositions, though many reflect the idiom of Norwegian folk melodies.

An expert in the delicate art of miniature, Walter Gieseking excelled in short evocative pieces in which his technical mastery and unique sensitivity worked wonders. The numerous albums of Lyric Pieces by Edvard Grieg were a constant source of inspiration for him: he recorded some selections on many occasions, and added excerpts to his concert programs with the same enthusiasm. This album includes the complete set recorded at the very end of his life, coupled with some earlier renditions from the 1948 sessions.

In 1998 an article appeared in The Times claiming the non-existence of talent. Just as the eminent psychologist R.D. Laing explained that ‘schizophrenia’ was a fabricated term for an analysable condition, so the Times writer stressed that talent was a fancy description for hard work. For him the success of a musical star – he took the violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter as his example – had more to do with perspiration than inspiration.

In 1998 an article appeared in The Times claiming the non-existence of talent. Just as the eminent psychologist R.D. Laing explained that ‘schizophrenia’ was a fabricated term for an analysable condition, so the Times writer stressed that talent was a fancy description for hard work. For him the success of a musical star – he took the violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter as his example – had more to do with perspiration than inspiration.