Ivor Gurney’s songs have long earned him renown but his works for piano are hardly known. The lyrically beautiful Five Preludes reflect influences as wide...

Ivor Gurney’s songs have long earned him renown but his works for piano are hardly known. The lyrically beautiful Five Preludes reflect influences as wide as Schumann and Scriabin but preserve Gurney’s expressive freshness. The Sonatas nos. 1 and 3 inhabit very different sound worlds from each other, and only one movement of Sonata No. 2 has survived, a deeply poignant elegy – all of which are heard here in world-premiere recordings. His poem for piano, Autumn, offers further opportunity to discover this rarely heard music by a composer for whom the pursuit of beauty was of the utmost importance.

Pianist George Rowley has performed throughout the UK and abroad, including appearances at the Winchester Festival, Holywell Music Room and the Liddell Concert Series. He has reached the final stages of many competitions including the Brighton and Hove Concerto Competition, the Intercollegiate Piano Competition (Beethoven Piano Society of Europe) and the Sir Ian Stoutzker Prize.