Soirée Musicale explores the lyrical salon-style works for violin and piano, a subtitle for this disc may well be ‘Nostalgia’ for much of the repertoire expresses memories from the past, such as Songs My Mother Taught Me, Liebesleid, Song for Minstrel, and Theme from Schindler’s List. In a personal way this also reflects the dedication of this disc to memory of my father, Peter J. Wilson, a great lover of classical music and support of my musical endeavours.

However in this disc we have not focused solely on one mood, or attempted to present a recital that precisely replicates a late 19th or early 20th century musical soiree. Rather, in Soiree Musicale we wish to explore a broader canvas by including energetic pieces (such as Banjo and Fiddle) and contrasting beautiful works by composers not normally associated with this genre, such as Igor Stravinsky and Bedrich Smetana. We hope this disc will entice you to further explore the wealth of wonderful repertoire all these composers have to offer.

Robin Wilson and Kemp English

Music

Song for Minstrel, op.120	Anthony Ritchie
for violin and piano
Samples Recording (1412k) 00:00 - 01:00 © Anthony Ritchie, Robin Wilson, Kemp English You need a Flash plugin to view this player
Premiere performance by Robin Wilson (violin) and Kemp English (piano) at the Great Hall, The Arts Centre of Christchurch, Christchurch, in May 2006

Publishers

• Ode Records