Clare Hammond - Saxton Piano Works (2018) [Official Digital Download 24/96]

In its bell-like sonorities, clear textures and ritual manner, the piano music of Robert Saxton (born in London in 1953) suggests an almost oriental fascination with light and the way light refracts and diffracts – and yet it is audibly music written by an Englishman. In the two Books of Saxton’s Hortus Musicae in particular, this fascinating confluence generates a soundworld somewhere downstream from Takemitsu and Tippett, giving these gardens of music both a ceremonial dignity and sense of spring growth. Hailed as a pianist of ‘amazing power and panache’ (The Daily Telegraph), Clare Hammond is recognized for the virtuosity and authority of her performances and has developed a ‘reputation for brilliantly imaginative concert programmes’ (BBC Music Magazine, ‘Rising Star’). In 2016, she won the ‘Young Artist Award’ of the Royal Philharmonic Society in recognition of outstanding achievements. She is a champion of modern repertoire: this is her sixth album of music by a living composer, and she has given 35 world premieres to date. Clare completed a BA at Cambridge University, where she obtained a double first in music, and undertook postgraduate study with Ronan O’Hora at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

Tracklist:
01. Chacony
02. Piano Sonata
03. Hortus Musicae, Book 1: No.1. Hortus Somniorum
04. Hortus Musicae, Book 1: No. 2, Hortus Temporis
05. Hortus Musicae, Book 1: No. 3, Hortus Cantus
06. Hortus Musicae, Book 1: No. 4, Hortus Infinitatis
07. Hortus Musicae, Book 1: No. 5, Saltatio Hortensis
08. Hortus Musicae, Book 2: No. 1, The Flowers Appear on the Earth
09. Hortus Musicae, Book 2: No. 2, Light on the Water Garden
10. Hortus Musicae, Book 2: No. 3, The Garden of Changing Perspective
11. Hortus Musicae, Book 2: No. 4, Beech Bank (À la recherche)…
12. Hortus Musicae, Book 2: No. 5, Light on the Hedgerows
13. Hortus Musicae, Book 2: No. 6, The Garden at Dusk
14. Hortus Musicae, Book 2: No. 7, Hortus Animae Alis Fugacis
15. Lullaby for Rosa

Personnel:
Clare Hammond, piano