A brilliant pianist and organist, Shchedrin has appeared throughout the entire world as a successful performer of his own works. A second CD with recordings from 1964 and 1983 of his own piano works has appeared within the Edition Rodion Shchedrin on WERGO. This CD chiefly introduces his early works for piano, with the exception of "Notebook for the Youth", which was written in 1981 and which is, in contradiction to the title, not only meant for young people, but also for the advanced concert pianist. Shchedrin recorded this CD in the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, "the place with the best acoustics in Moscow" - at night, when the team got the desired peace and quietness which is absolutely indispensable for recording quiet and "transparent" music. "Yes, we were children of our time and of our country where we were born and where we lived. You cannot run away from that. Time always leaves it's mark," says Rodion Shchedrin.