Asher Ian Armstrong - Beginnings and Endings (2023) [Official Digital Download 24/48]

Critically acclaimed pianist Asher Ian Armstrong presents an album of music by largely unexplored women composers of the 20th century, beautiful and profound works of Amy Beach, Lili Boulanger, Vítězslava Kaprálová, Sophie-Carmen Eckhardt-Gramatté, Ethel Leginska and Dora Pejačević

Perhaps for the reason that the composers in this album occupy a kind of “liminal space” in music history, approaching them from the vantage point of their artistic beginnings and endings constellates a fascinating mosaic. The attention lavished on their forebears and contemporaries has been almost anatomical in its fine grain of detail, such that entire albums have been devoted exclusively to the beginnings or endings of such composers as Brahms, Scriabin, Berg, and others. Yet the composers on this disc remain on the whole largely unexplored (save for some intrepid expeditions into the music of Eckhardt-Gramatté and Amy Beach). In an act of “awful daring,” these artists left behind beautiful, profound works, surrendering their thoughts and their deepest impulses to us. It is up to us to honour this gift, as by this act of performance, they continue to exist.

Tracklist:
01. 5 Improvisations, Op. 148: V. Largo maestoso
02. Thème et Variations for piano
03. Sonata Appassionata, Op. 6: I. Maestoso
04. Sonata Appassionata, Op. 6: II. Theme and Variations
05. Nocturne
06. Three Victorian Portraits: I. Nostalgic Waltz
07. Three Victorian Portraits: II. A Dirge
08. Three Victorian Portraits: III. Heroic Impromptu
09. Piano Sonata No. 2 in A-Flat, Op. 57
10. Nocturne No. 2 in F-Sharp, Op. 50


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