Rambles and Reflections

"To get the best out of (these) arrangements go straight to Piers Lane's recital. His performance is a combination of crystalline brilliance and focused inner intensity can be breathtaking. Strongly recommended."
***** Five Stars BBC Music Magazine (Nov 2002)

'A charming recital, beautifully played and recorded' (Classic FM Magazine)

'Musically enchanting fare … the recording and presentation are immaculate' (Gramophone)

Though he professed not to enjoy concert giving, Grainger was one of the greatest pianists of the earlier 20th century and had an intimate understanding of the capabilities of the piano and how best to write for it. Though his compositional voice was unique he was therefore in many ways part of the great composer/pianist tradition stretching from Liszt to Busoni for whom the concert transcription was an essential part of their art.
This CD contains the majority of Grainger's concert transcriptions of music by other composers (his few Bach arrangements will appear on a future Piers Lane recording). They range from the folk inspired Irish Dances of Stanford, full of Grainger's characteristically extrovert piano writing, to the hyperromantic lushness (and incredible pianistic sophistication) of his 'Ramble on Love' based on Richard Strauss's 'Rosenkavalier', all superbly played by Piers Lane who, like Grainger, certainly can't resist a 'good tune'!