Starter Packs

Complete your collection with these curated titles, grouped at a special discount.

Shop Now
Swain: Piano Music, Vol. 1 - Sonatas & Character Pieces / Altwegg
Toccata

Swain: Piano Music, Vol. 1 - Sonatas & Character Pieces / Altwegg

$10.49
$20.99 Save 50%

Details

Composer
Swain, Freda
Artist
Timon Altwegg
Format
CD
Label
Toccata
Released
Apr 01, 2022
Catalog #
TOCC0579
UPC
5060113445797

About

The English composer-pianist Freda Swain (1902–85) left behind a huge legacy of music that was largely unknown even during her own lifetime. Her compositions – hundreds of them, in a series of large boxes – found their way to the Swiss pianist Timon Altwegg, who begins his survey of her piano music with these three mighty sonatas. They are astonishing discoveries: big-boned, virtuosic pieces, full of wild energy, crossing from late Romanticism to a more modern idiom – from Rachmaninov to Bartók, so to speak – and with Bax’s fondness for Celtic seascapes and a hint of Debussyan Impressionism.

REVIEW:

Freda Swain studied composition with Charles Villiers Stanford, married New Zealand pianist and mentor Arthur Alexander, with whom she formed a successful piano duo, and devoted her life to composing, teaching, and performing. Some of her 450 compositions were performed with success, but her refusal to bend to post-war musical trends meant she fell into obscurity.

Altwegg’s recording of three sonatas and three short pieces should go a long way to reinstating this remarkable composer with a highly individual voice. The most fascinating work is the three-movement Sonata Saga that Swain left unnumbered and which Altwegg found in a box of unsorted loose pages. He has painstakingly worked it into a performance version, and it is an impressive and powerful debut work from a 22-year-old.

The gem of the collection is the Sonata No 1 in A Minor, nicknamed “The Skerries”, written in 1936 and inspired by the Scottish landscape. Altwegg gives a memorable performance. The Sonata No 2 in F Sharp Minor dates from 1950 and shows how Swain advanced in her approach to form and harmony. The short pieces are delightful.

-- Limelight

Tracklist 13 tracks

  1. 1 I. Misterioso – 09:38
    Track
    1
    Title
    I. Misterioso –
    Duration
    09:38
    Composer
    Freda Swain
    Performer
    Timon Altwegg
  2. 2 II. Lento tranquillo – 10:34
    Track
    2
    Title
    II. Lento tranquillo –
    Duration
    10:34
    Composer
    Freda Swain
    Performer
    Timon Altwegg
  3. 3 III. Con molto energia – Allargando superbamente – Allegro ritmico 09:27
    Track
    3
    Title
    III. Con molto energia – Allargando superbamente – Allegro ritmico
    Duration
    09:27
    Composer
    Freda Swain
    Performer
    Timon Altwegg
  4. 4 The Croon of the Sea 06:21
    Track
    4
    Title
    The Croon of the Sea
    Duration
    06:21
    Composer
    Freda Swain
    Performer
    Timon Altwegg
  5. 5 I. Vigoroso 05:46
    Track
    5
    Title
    I. Vigoroso
    Duration
    05:46
    Composer
    Freda Swain
    Performer
    Timon Altwegg
  6. 6 II. Non troppo lento, malinconio 04:34
    Track
    6
    Title
    II. Non troppo lento, malinconio
    Duration
    04:34
    Composer
    Freda Swain
    Performer
    Timon Altwegg
  7. 7 III. Moderato misterioso, lontano – Poco allegro e ritmico 03:58
    Track
    7
    Title
    III. Moderato misterioso, lontano – Poco allegro e ritmico
    Duration
    03:58
    Composer
    Freda Swain
    Performer
    Timon Altwegg
  8. 8 An English Idyll 04:46
    Track
    8
    Title
    An English Idyll
    Duration
    04:46
    Composer
    Freda Swain
    Performer
    Timon Altwegg
  9. 9 I. Toccata: Allegro vigoroso e ritmico 07:20
    Track
    9
    Title
    I. Toccata: Allegro vigoroso e ritmico
    Duration
    07:20
    Composer
    Freda Swain
    Performer
    Timon Altwegg
  10. 10 II. Canzona Pastorale: Poco andante e semplice 05:34
    Track
    10
    Title
    II. Canzona Pastorale: Poco andante e semplice
    Duration
    05:34
    Composer
    Freda Swain
    Performer
    Timon Altwegg
  11. 11 III. Interlude 01:09
    Track
    11
    Title
    III. Interlude
    Duration
    01:09
    Composer
    Freda Swain
    Performer
    Timon Altwegg
  12. 12 IV. Pandean Rondo: Poco allegro, giojoso 03:49
    Track
    12
    Title
    IV. Pandean Rondo: Poco allegro, giojoso
    Duration
    03:49
    Composer
    Freda Swain
    Performer
    Timon Altwegg
  13. 13 The Red Flower 04:36
    Track
    13
    Title
    The Red Flower
    Duration
    04:36
    Composer
    Freda Swain
    Performer
    Timon Altwegg