Leon McCawley – Natural Connection: Piano Music Inspired by the Natural World (2024) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

SOMM RECORDINGS is delighted to announce the release of Natural Connection, a captivatingly lyrical new recording by pianist Leon McCawley featuring music for solo piano inspired by the natural world.

The effect of the ever-changing seasons has been a perpetual inspiration for composers since Ancient Greece’s Delphic hymns and before, down to the present day, arguably finding its richest expression, as Robert Matthew-Walker’s erudite booklet notes argue, in the generations who alternatively espoused Romanticism and Impressionism.

Nine composers, each with their own individual but complementary responses, are featured in a 21-track recital of miniature gems traversing the inexorable turn of the year’s cycle from Christian Sinding’s tremulous signature, Rustle of Spring, to Grieg’s sublimely tentative To the Spring.

In between, popular pieces by Debussy (Clair de Lune) and Saint-Saëns (The Swan) vie with assorted works by Tchaikovsky (selections from The Seasons), Ravel (the liquescent Jeux d’eau), Bartók (the delightful From the Diary of a Fly and atmospheric The Night’s Music), and Rachmaninov (the gentle Lilacs and poetic Daisies).

The most expressive pianist-composer of his age, Liszt, contributes three pieces including the sighing ebb-and-flow of Au lac de Wallenstadt and stormy Orage, to eloquently link this multi-faceted and evocative, often moving, collection of responses to the living world.

Tracklist:
1-1. Leon McCawley – 6 Stücke, Op. 32: No. 3, Frühlingsrauschen (02:56)
1-2. Leon McCawley – Années de pèlerinage I, S. 160: No. 2, Au lac de Wallenstadt (03:31)
1-3. Leon McCawley – The Seasons, Op. 37a, TH 135: No. 3, March. Song of the Lark (02:23)
1-4. Leon McCawley – Mikrokosmos, Vol. 6, Sz. 107: No. 142, From the Diary of a Fly (01:29)
1-5. Leon McCawley – Estampes, L. 100: No. 3, Jardins sous la pluie (03:46)
1-6. Leon McCawley – Années de pèlerinage I, S. 160: No. 4, Au bord d’une source (04:06)
1-7. Leon McCawley – Années de pèlerinage I, S. 160: No. 5, Orage (04:31)
1-8. Leon McCawley – Out of Doors, Sz. 81: IV. The Night’s Music (05:18)
1-9. Leon McCawley – Suite bergamasque, L. 75: III. Clair de lune (05:06)
1-10. Leon McCawley – The Carnival of the Animals, R. 125: XIII. The Swan (Arr. for Piano by Leopold Godowsky) (02:34)
1-11. Leon McCawley – Lyric Pieces, Op. 43: No. 1, Sommerfugl (02:00)
1-12. Leon McCawley – Lyric Pieces, Op. 43: No. 4, Liden fugl (01:40)
1-13. Leon McCawley – Miroirs, M. 43: No. 2, Oiseaux tristes (04:25)
1-14. Leon McCawley – Années de pèlerinage III, S. 163: No. 4, Les jeux d’eaux à la Villa d’Este (07:28)
1-15. Leon McCawley – Jeux d’eau, M. 30 (05:43)
1-16. Leon McCawley – 12 Romances, Op. 21: No. 5, Lilacs (Version for Piano) (02:22)
1-17. Leon McCawley – 6 Romances, Op. 38: No. 3, Daisies (Version for Piano) (02:17)
1-18. Leon McCawley – The Seasons, Op. 37a, TH 135: No. 10, October. Autumn Song (04:32)
1-19. Leon McCawley – Children’s Corner, L. 113: IV. The Snow Is Dancing (02:41)
1-20. Leon McCawley – L’isle joyeuse, L. 106 (05:58)
1-21. Leon McCawley – Lyric Pieces, Op. 43: No. 6, Til Foråret (03:04)