Pictures of Light - Music by William Baines

Pictures of Light - Music by William Baines

dda 25234 (Divine Art, CD)

FIRST RELEASE (11 November 2022)

Playing time: 77'33"
Tracks: 26
Booklet pages: 24
℗ 2022 Divine Art Ltd / Diversions LLC
© 2022 Divine Art Ltd / Diversions LLC
Main country of recording: United Kingdom
Reviewer: Robert McCarney
Review of Pictures of Light - Music by William Baines published on 12 November 2022

Duncan Honeybourne, piano
Gordon Pullin, tenor (tracks 21-25)

William Baines (1899-1922):

1 Paradise Gardens

2 The Naïad

Silverpoints
3 Labyrinth
4 Water-Pearls
5 The Burning Joss-stick
6 Floralia

Tides
7 The Lone Wreck
8 Goodnight to Flamboro’

9 The Island of the Fay

Pictures of Light
10 Drift-Light
11 Bursting Flames
12 Pool-Lights

Eight Preludes
13 No 1 in G
14 No 2 Ebbing Tide
15 No 3 Shade-Imagery
16 No 4 in C
17 No 5 Wind Sprites
18 No 6 A Fairy Story
19 No 7 Lullaby
20 No 8 Eroica

Five Songs
21 Fountains
22 Fern Song
23 By the Sea
24 A Lyric (The Vigil)
25 Morning

Robin Walker (born 1953):

26 At the Grave of William Baines

William Baines is one of those exceptionally gifted composers whose music still remains little known to the general music-loving public. Deeply rooted in Nature, it shows influences from Debussy, Scriabin, Chopin, Liszt and Ravel and has totally assimilated those exemplars into truly mature and distinguished works all his own. This album includes a number of impressionist piano solos and also the first recording (and first performance) of the Five Songs, presented by veteran tenor Gordon Pullin, who has long been associated with the music of Baines. Duncan Honeybourne has become one of the most sought after of British pianists with a sparkling discography and is totally at home in this picturesque music. This album is produced also in memory of Baines on the centenary of his death. The album concludes with At the Grave of William Baines by fellow Yorkshireman Robin Walker – a fitting tribute by a living composer with similar abilities to draw inspiration from the world around him.

Recorded 3-4 June 2022 at Holy Trinity Church, Hereford, UK.