Christopher Brown: 24 Preludes & Fugues

Christopher Brown: 24 Preludes & Fugues

SRCD.2431 (Lyrita, CD, 3 discs)

DDD
Stereo
FIRST RELEASE (2 February 2024)

Playing time: 77'41"/40'25"/66'05" - TT 184'11"
Tracks: 24 + 12 + 18
Booklet pages: 20
℗ 2024 Lyrita Recorded Edition
© 2024 Lyrita Recorded Edition
Main country of recording: United Kingdom
Reviewer: Geoff Pearce
Review of Christopher Brown: 24 Preludes & Fugues published on 5 January 2024

Nathan Williamson, piano

Christopher Brown (born 1943):

24 Preludes and Fugues

CD1

Book 1
1 Prelude No 1 in B flat minor - Maestoso
2 Fugue No 1 in B flat minor - Con moto, ma non troppo
3 Prelude No 2 in D flat - Andante
4 Fugue No 2 in D flat - Moderato
5 Prelude No 3 in D minor - Allegro molto
6 Fugue No 3 in D minor - Con moto
7 Prelude No 4 in F sharp minor - Lento, molto calmo
8 Fugue No 4 in F sharp minor - Lento
9 Prelude No 5 in F - Allegro molto capriccioso
10 Fugue No 5 in F - Andante
11 Prelude No 6 in B flat - Allegro molto
12 Fugue No 6 in B flat - Meno mosso ma sempre con moto

Book 2
13 Prelude No 7 in A minor - Prelude. Allegro
14 Fugue No 7 in A minor - Allegro con spirito
15 Prelude No 8 in D - Allemande. Moderato
16 Fugue No 8 in D - Con moto, ma non troppo allegro
17 Prelude No 9 in F minor - Courante. Allegretto
18 Fugue No 9 in F minor - Allegro giocoso
19 Prelude No 10 in G flat - Gavotte. Alla Gavotta
20 Fugue No 10 in G flat - Con brio
21 Prelude No 11 in C sharp minor - Sarabande. Adagio
22 Fugue No 11 in C sharp minor - Adagio
23 Prelude No 12 in A - Gigue. Presto
24 Fugue No 12 in A - Maestoso, ma un poco con moto

CD2

Book 3
1 Prelude No 13 in C minor - Broadly
2 Fugue No 13 in C minor - Allegretto con moto
3 Prelude No 14 in E minor - Andante
4 Fugue No 14 in E minor - Andante
5 Prelude No 14 in E flat - Lilting
6 Fugue No 14 in E flat - Bold
7 Prelude No 14 in G sharp minor - Slow
8 Fugue No 14 in G sharp minor - Con moto, but unhurried
9 Prelude No 14 in G - Allegro molto, giocoso
10 Fugue No 14 in G - Con moto
11 Prelude No 14 in C - Adagio quasi fantasia
12 Fugue No 14 in C - Allegretto giocoso

CD3

Book 4
1 Prelude No 19 in B - Adagio solenne
2 Fugue No 19 in B - Moderato
3 Prelude No 20 in E flat minor - Slow
4 Fugue No 20 in E flat minor - Lento misterioso
5 Prelude No 21 in G minor - Andante con moto
6 Fugue No 21 in G minor - Allegro, un poco giocoso
7 Prelude No 22 in A flat - Allegro molto
8 Fugue No 22 in A flat - Moderato e calmo
9 Prelude No 23 in E - Allegro vivace
10 Fugue No 23 in E - Allegro giocoso
11 Prelude No 24 in B minor - Adagio
12 Fugue No 24 in B minor - Andante

Baroquery, Dance Suite for Piano, Op 105 (From Book 2 of 24 Preludes and Fugues)
13 Prelude
14 Allemande
15 Courante
16 Gavotte
17 Sarabande
18 Gigue

Christopher Brown writes: I set myself the challenge of writing a book of 24 preludes and fugues in all the major and minor keys and I approached family, friends, and several institutions I had been associated with, to commission a prelude and fugue each, with many of the resultant commissioners asking for references to pieces of music that had a special meaning for them, a request that I tried to follow through wherever possible. Within a very short space of time, I realised just what a task I had set myself. The project took me eight years to complete, and it was not until 2019 that I finally put the finishing touches to the concluding B minor Fugue. The score was published on my birthday in June 2020 and I received an unexpected email from Nathan Williamson, saying that he would love to learn the music, and, because of the restrictions imposed by the covid lockdowns, it might be a good time to see if a complete recording might be contemplated. To our considerable delight, Lyrita Recorded Edition agreed to take on the project that has led to the release of the present boxed set. Very early in the planning process I had decided that the set would be divided into four books (each made up of 6 preludes and fugues) based around one of the notes of the name BACH (B flat, A, C and B natural in German notation), and starting and ending in the major or the minor tonality of the four keys. In addition, I wanted to reference the cryptogram of Dmitri Shostakovich (DSCH - D, E flat, C and B), whose own masterly set of 24 Preludes and Fugues also casts its influence across my set.

Recorded on 4-6 April 2022, 13-15 November 2022 and 19 October 2023 at Wyastone Leys, Monmouth, UK.