Julia Hamos - Ellis Island (2025) [Official Digital Download 24/96]

"Ellis Island" is an odyssey in sound, the story of a pianist with dual origins, Julia Hamos, who, in this very first album, looks at her family roots, American and Hungarian, and displays a longing for adventure. She looks towards the Hungary of Bartok and Kurtag, engaging in a dialogue with the memory of her ancestors from Transylvania. Originally from the same region as Kurtag, her maternal grandfather knew Ligeti as a child.

This journey with it's haunting poetry will lead us also to New York, the pianist's first home, a place of hope and inspiration, which always feeds her creativity. Myself When I Am Real by Charles Mingus bursts forth, a fabulous moment, both poetic and pianistic, the zenith of this unusual and personal journey where the pianist, with a mellow yet clear sound palette, will have brought together in a fluid gesture the waking dreams of Schubert (Ungarische melodie, 1824), the very earthy and despair-tinged folklore of Bartok (Fifteen Hungarian Peasant Songs) and the torrential and enigmatic explosions of early Kurtag (8 Pieces Op. 3).

In this eminently personal journey, however, there is no narcissistic temptation. Because if the young musician plays, she above all wants to speak to us, with modesty, but not without determination. Her piano assembles words, choreographs rhythms, and also deploy it's range of pastels colours. This is demonstrated by the subtle selection of Jatekok, where the piano will embody a thousand faces, in turn itself (Capriccioso), percussion (Play with Overtones), harp (Perpetuum mobile) or violin duet with viola (Tears).

TRACKLIST

1. Julia Hamos - Játékok, Volume I: No. 74, Perpetuum mobile (objet trouvé)
2. Julia Hamos - Ellis Island (Version for Solo Piano)
3. Julia Hamos - 8 Klavierstücke, Op. 3: I. Inesorabile. Andante con moto
4. Julia Hamos - 8 Klavierstücke, Op. 3: II. Calmo
5. Julia Hamos - 8 Klavierstücke, Op. 3: III. Sostenuto
6. Julia Hamos - 8 Klavierstücke, Op. 3: IV. Scorrevole
7. Julia Hamos - 8 Klavierstücke, Op. 3: V. Prestissimo possibile
8. Julia Hamos - 8 Klavierstücke, Op. 3: VI. Grave
9. Julia Hamos - 8 Klavierstücke, Op. 3: VII. Adagio
10. Julia Hamos - 8 Klavierstücke, Op. 3: VIII. Vivo
11. Julia Hamos - Myself When I Am Real
12. Julia Hamos - Etudes, Book 1: No. 4, Fanfares
13. Julia Hamos - Mikrokosmos, Sz. 107: No. 148, Six Dances in Bulgarian Rhythm, No. 1
14. Julia Hamos - Mikrokosmos, Sz. 107: No. 149, Six Dances in Bulgarian Rhythm, No. 2
15. Julia Hamos - Mikrokosmos, Sz. 107: No. 150, Six Dances in Bulgarian Rhythm, No. 3
16. Julia Hamos - Mikrokosmos, Sz. 107: No. 151, Six Dances in Bulgarian Rhythm, No. 4
17. Julia Hamos - Mikrokosmos, Sz. 107: No. 152, Six Dances in Bulgarian Rhythm, No. 5
18. Julia Hamos - Mikrokosmos, Sz. 107: No. 153, Six Dances in Bulgarian Rhythm, No. 6
19. Julia Hamos - Játékok, Volume V: No. 33, Capriccioso – luminoso
20. Julia Hamos - Játékok, Volume III: No. 34, Play with Overtones (4)
21. Julia Hamos - Játékok, Volume VII: No. 23, Tears
22. Julia Hamos - Játékok, Volume VI: No. 30, Doina
23. Julia Hamos - 15 Hungarian Peasant Songs, Sz. 71: No. 1, Rubato
24. Julia Hamos - 15 Hungarian Peasant Songs, Sz. 71: No. 2, Andante
25. Julia Hamos - 15 Hungarian Peasant Songs, Sz. 71: No. 3, Poco rubato
26. Julia Hamos - 15 Hungarian Peasant Songs, Sz. 71: No. 4, Andante
27. Julia Hamos - 15 Hungarian Peasant Songs, Sz. 71: No. 5, Scherzo (Allegro)
28. Julia Hamos - 15 Hungarian Peasant Songs, Sz. 71: No. 6, Ballad. Theme with variations (Andante)
29. Julia Hamos - 15 Hungarian Peasant Songs, Sz. 71: No. 7, Allegro
30. Julia Hamos - 15 Hungarian Peasant Songs, Sz. 71: No. 8, Allegretto
31. Julia Hamos - 15 Hungarian Peasant Songs, Sz. 71: No. 9, Allegretto
32. Julia Hamos - 15 Hungarian Peasant Songs, Sz. 71: No. 10, L'istesso tempo
33. Julia Hamos - 15 Hungarian Peasant Songs, Sz. 71: No. 11, Assai moderato
34. Julia Hamos - 15 Hungarian Peasant Songs, Sz. 71: No. 12, Allegretto
35. Julia Hamos - 15 Hungarian Peasant Songs, Sz. 71: No. 13, Poco più vivo
36. Julia Hamos - 15 Hungarian Peasant Songs, Sz. 71: No. 14, Allegro
37. Julia Hamos - 15 Hungarian Peasant Songs, Sz. 71: No. 15, Allegro
38. Julia Hamos - Ungarische Melodie in B Minor, D. 817



Thanks to the Original customer.