Piano Sonatas 7, 8, 9

For many years Craven has exclusively focused his attention upon the development of the compositional and performance techniques associated with his Non-Prescriptive style of music which, in essence, seeks to realign the relationship between composer and performer.

On the rare occasions that his music has been performed live, it has been received with great appreciation by the audiences and artists involved. There is now a growing interest from both amateur and professional musicians and in academia with regard to the distinctiveness of the concept of his Non-Prescriptive music, and the associated techniques which include elements of aleatorism, optional phrasing, improvisation and open interpretation. None of these are in themselves new but they are here presented in a particular fashion which is Eric Craven's own. The three Sonatas are written with varying degree of Prescription (and converse freedom) and in very different structures from the 7th Sonata, a quasi-classical 'arch' structure, to the massive monolithic 8th. They are of the highest order throughout and masterworks of collaboration between composer and performer.

A sought-after interpreter of new music, Mary Dullea's expansive repertoire covers the standard piano literature as well as an ever-increasing amount of 20th- and 21st- century compositions, many of which are dedicated to her. She has commissioned and premiered works from composers as varied as Michael Finnissy, Johannes Maria Staud, Michael Nyman, Donnacha Dennehy and Gerald Barry - notably with her piano trio, The Fidelio Trio and with violinist, Darragh Morgan. As well as the present album of Sonatas by Eric Craven, Mary recorded Craven's suit 'Set' for piano for Metier and is becoming an enthusiastic advocate of his compositional technique.