Path to the Moon
CHAN 20274 (Chandos Records, CD)
FIRST RELEASE (16 February 2024)
Playing time: 78'28"
Tracks: 20
Booklet pages: 38
℗ 2024 Chandos Records Ltd
© 2024 Chandos Records Ltd
Main country of recording: United Kingdom
Reviewer: Geoff Pearce
Review of Path to the Moon published on 20 February 2024
Laura van der Heijden, cello
Jâms Coleman, piano
Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1897-1957):
1 Schönste Nacht (Die stumme Serenade, Op 36, 1946)
George Walker (1922-2018):
Cello Sonata in C (1957)
2 Allegro passionato - Molto meno mosso - Più mosso - Molto più mosso - Tempo I - Molto meno mosso - Più mosso
3 Sostenuto
4 Allegro - Presto
Lili Boulanger (1893-1918):
5 Reflets for voice and piano (1911)
Florence Price (1887-1953), arranged by Tom Poster:
6 Night, in C (1946)
Benjamin Britten (1913-1976):
7 Sonetto XXX (Seven Sonnets of Michelangelo, 1940)
Cello Sonata in C, Op 65 (1960-61)
8 Dialogo. Allegro - Animato - Tranquillo - Tranquillo
9 Scherzo-pizzicato. Allegretto
10 Elegia. Lento - Poco a poco crescendo ed animando - Largamente
11 Marcia. Energico
12 Moto Perpetuo. Presto
Claude Debussy (1862-1918), arranged for cello and piano by Alexander Grechaninov (1864-1956):
13 Beau soir in E, L 6 (circa 1880, revised 1890-91)
Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924):
14 Clair de lune in B flat minor, Op 46 No 2 (1887)
Debussy:
Cello Sonata in D minor, L 135 (1915)
15 Prologue
16 Sérénade
17 Finale
Tōru Takemitsu (1930-1996), arranged by Henning Brauel (born 1940):
18 Will Tomorrow, I Wonder, Be Cloudy or Clear? in B flat (circa 1992)
Jonathan King (born 1944) arranged by Nina Simone (1933-2003), transcribed for cello and piano by Jâms Coleman:
19 Everyone's Gone to the Moon, in G (1965/1969)
Debussy, arranged circa 1935 by Ferdinando Ronchini (cello part) and circa 1924 by Alexandre Roelens (piano part):
20 Clair de lune (circa 1890, revised 1905)
The performers write: 'Selecting the repertoire for our album Path to the Moon, we wanted to explore several possibilities for binding together a programme. To place different works alongside one another is a wonderful way of bringing out new and unusual qualities in each piece. William T Horton's fantastic image The Path to the Moon immediately inspired a flurry of ideas, including works about both night and the moon, as well as pieces which invoke the exploratory nature of humankind's voyage to the moon. Britten wrote his Sonata for Cello and Piano only two years after the first object made by humans had touched the surface of the moon (1959). Humans throughout history and from all cultures have been drawn to and taken inspiration from the moon and we have tried to reflect this in our eclectic choice of song repertoire. As we hope you will hear on this album, Walker's Cello Sonata rings with echoes of the sound-worlds of blues and jazz and is infused with a beautiful lyricism. We really believe that Walker's Cello Sonata deserves to become a staple of the chamber music repertoire and are absolutely thrilled to offer you a recording of it in the context of our own exploration of a path to the moon.'
Recorded 27-29 March 2023 at Potton Hall, Dunwich, Suffolk, UK.