Natural Connection - Piano Music Inspired by the Natural World / McCawley

$15.99
Label
SOMM Recordings
Release Date
February 2, 2024
Format
Added to Cart! View cart or continue shopping.


    Featuring ⌄
    • COMPOSER
      Bela Bartok, Claude Debussy, Edvard Grieg, Franz Liszt, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Maurice Ravel, Camille
    • PERFORMER
      Leon Mccawley
    Product Details ⌄
    • RELEASE DATE
      February 02, 2024
    • UPC
      748871068025
    • CATALOG NUMBER
      SOMMCD 0680
    • LABEL
      SOMM Recordings
    • NUMBER OF DISCS
      1
    • GENRE
      Classical
    Works ⌄

    1. 6 Stücke, Op. 32: No. 3. Rustle of Spring

      Composer: Christian Sinding

      Performer: Leon McCawley

    2. Années de pèlerinage, 1st year, Switzerland, S160/R10: No. 2. Au lac de Wallenstadt (At the Lake of Wallenstadt)

      Composer: Franz Liszt

      Performer: Leon McCawley

    3. Les saisons (The Seasons), Op. 37a: III. March: Song of the Lark

      Composer: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

      Performer: Leon McCawley

    4. Mikrokosmos, Book 6, BB 105: No. 142. From the Diary of a Fly

      Composer: Béla Bartók

      Performer: Leon McCawley

    5. Estampes: No. 3. Jardins sous la pluie (Gardens in the Rain)

      Composer: Claude Debussy

      Performer: Leon McCawley

    6. No. 4. Au bord d'une source (Beside a Spring)

      Composer: Franz Liszt

      Performer: Leon McCawley

    7. No. 5. Orage (Storm)

      Composer: Franz Liszt

      Performer: Leon McCawley

    8. Szabadban (Out of Doors), BB 89: IV. The Night's Music

      Composer: Béla Bartók

      Performer: Leon McCawley

    9. Suite bergamasque: III. Clair de lune

      Composer: Claude Debussy

      Performer: Leon McCawley

    10. Carnival of the Animals: XIII. Le Cygne (The Swan) (arr. L. Godowsky for piano)

      Composer: Camille Saint-Saëns

      Performer: Leon McCawley

    11. No. 1. Sommerfugl (Butterfly)

      Composer: Edvard Grieg

      Performer: Leon McCawley

    12. No. 4. Smågfugl (Little Bird)

      Composer: Edvard Grieg

      Performer: Leon McCawley

    13. Miroirs: No. 2. Oiseaux tristes

      Composer: Maurice Ravel

      Performer: Leon McCawley

    14. Années de pèlerinage, 3rd year, S163/R10: No. 4. Les jeux d'eau a la Villa d'Este (The Fountains of the Villa d'Este)

      Composer: Franz Liszt

      Performer: Leon McCawley

    15. Jeux d'eau

      Composer: Maurice Ravel

      Performer: Leon McCawley

    16. 12 Songs, Op. 21: No. 5. Siren' (Lilacs) (version for piano)

      Composer: Sergei Rachmaninoff

      Performer: Leon McCawley

    17. 6 Songs, Op. 38: No. 3. Margaritki (Daisies) (version for piano)

      Composer: Sergei Rachmaninoff

      Performer: Leon McCawley

    18. Les saisons (The Seasons), Op. 37a: X. October: Autumn Song

      Composer: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

      Performer: Leon McCawley

    19. Children's Corner: IV. The Snow is Dancing

      Composer: Claude Debussy

      Performer: Leon McCawley

    20. L'isle joyeuse

      Composer: Claude Debussy

      Performer: Leon McCawley

    21. Lyric Pieces, Book 3, Op. 43: No. 6. Til våren (To the Spring)

      Composer: Edvard Grieg

      Performer: Leon McCawley


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. The effect of the ever-changing seasons has been a perpetual inspiration for composers since Ancient Greece’s Delphic hymns and before, down to the present day, arguably finding its richest expression, as Robert Matthew-Walker’s erudite booklet notes argue, in the generations who alternatively espoused Romanticism and Impressionism. Nine composers, each with their own individual but complementary responses, are featured in a 21-track recital of miniature gems traversing the inexorable turn of the year’s cycle from Christian Sinding’s tremulous signature, Rustle of Spring, to Grieg’s sublimely tentative To the Spring. In between, popular pieces by Debussy (Clair de Lune) and Saint-Saëns (The Swan) vie with assorted works by Tchaikovsky (selections from The Seasons), Ravel (the liquescent Jeux d’eau), Bartók (the delightful From the Diary of a Fly and atmospheric The Night’s Music), and Rachmaninov (the gentle Lilacs and poetic Daisies). The most expressive pianist-composer of his age, Liszt, contributes three pieces including the sighing ebb-and-flow of Au lac de Walletstadt and stormy Orage, to eloquently link this multi-faceted and evocative, often moving, collection of responses to the living world. Leon McCawley’s previous SOMM releases include four widely acclaimed volumes of Haydn Sonatas, the first (SOMMCD 0162) receiving a coveted Diapason d’Or from Diapason magazine, Gramophone hailing him for Volume III (SOMMCD 0624) as “a thoughtful, keenly intelligent artist in peak form”. MusicWeb International declared his Chopin recital (SOMMCD 0103) “exemplary” and “outstanding”, while his Schubert survey (SOMMCD 0188) was described by Classical Music Daily as “a meaningful, eloquent performance [that] offers many memorable moments”.