SKU: HL.14024952

English.

SKU: HL.14041529

ISBN 9781849388214.

Lord Berners (1883-1950) was one of the most idiosyncratic and fascinating personalities in British music.

He became a pioneer in the avant-garde when he wrote his first music whilst living in Rome as adiplomat during World War 1; Balanchine choreographed his first two ballets and Ashton the next three; in 1931 he had the first exhibition of his paintings; in 1934 he published the first volume of his autobiography, FirstChildhood, and two years later his first novel, The Camel -- and three more novels came out in 1941.

On top of all this during the 1930s, known as 'the versatile peer', he increasingly gained a reputation as an eccentric,which he realised was good for publicity.

A wry humour pervades everything, as in these three sets of piano duets. Berners' songs and piano music, too, are as full of whimsical references as those of Erik Satie -- he hasbeen called the English Satie and the Ronald Firbank of music.

Berners was not prolific but whatever he did was stamped with his own fastidious accomplishment. He may not have been the last eccentric but his music, writingand painting combine to make him one of the most rewarding.

SKU: HL.285230

UPC: 888680908737. 9.0x12.0x0.264 inches.

'Flee the storms.' Reynaldo Hahn (1874-1947) put this motto of classical artists at the heart of his music for piano four hands, preferring the balance of proportions to the roar of passions, the eclecticism of good taste, charm and delicacy. Berceuses falls within the French tradition of children's music such as illustrated by Faure's Dolly and Ravel's Ma mere lOye. These seven pieces evoke with refinement the happiness of a cloudless day, the effervescence that reigns on Christmas Eve, or the gentle syncopated rocking of a young Creole, Selfiana. The Variations pueriles sur une melodie de Carl Reinecke manifest a free, whimsical vein, whereas the Trois preludes sur des airs irlandais drink at the pure sources of folk music, borrowing their thematic material from the famous collection Songs of Old Ireland which Stanford had brought out in 1882. Published for the first time from ahandwritten score, the Variations sur un theme de Charles Levade end with a wild quadrille that takes the heroes of the celebration to the nearest inn. The Piece en forme daria et Bergerie from 1896, finely polished, takes up with the ambiance of the pastorale, popular in the 17th century.

SKU: HL.14018852

ISBN 9780853609308.

Piano duet score. 1st performance Ellesmere College, January 1986 by Richard Markham and David Nettle. Duration c.24 minutes. The work is in three movements and the musical thought is symphonic. The first movement (based entirely on the opening motive) goes through a series of paragraphs which eventually culminate in an extended melodic line played entirely by the treble player. The middle movement is a playful Scherzo with a rather sardonic waltz for its Trio. The slow movement (which comes last) is much more relaxed and concentrates on a D major motive with sharpened fourths, but the more intense moods of the first movement return in a suddenly impassioned middle section.