INSPIRED BY BACH: WORKS FOR PIANO BY FERRUCCIO BUSONI AND PAOLO TRONCON. Carlo Grante, piano.

Description

Some of Busoni's most demanding and complex tributes to Bach are included here, with explanatory notes by Busoni scholar Anthony Beaumont. "Troncon's Six Preludes and Fugues stand midway between tradition and modernity. The composer's aim was to re- elaborate the fugal gestures and expressive formulas of earlier epochs, while avoiding any preconceptions that might result in a 'narrative' development of individual pieces, or indeed of the entire cycle. He avoids clichés and shuns all forms of nostalgia. For him the juxtaposition of prelude and fugue has a specific formal appeal. Traditionally a prelude offers the opportunity for something approaching improvisation – music that follows no predetermined plan, but in effect creates its own form as structural and emotional nexuses emerge – sometimes at random – from within the musical discourse. In a prelude a composer can let himself be guided by freedom, instinct and individuality. A fugue, by contrast, is governed by logic and structural order." Italian pianist Carlo Grante, to whom Troncon dedicated his Six Preludes and Fugues, is one of the most active and accomplished recording artists of his generation. His concert activity, which has brought him to great acclaim to the great major music centers of the world and as soloist with major orchestras, features a wide array of repertoire that includes also many works of the present day. He has been recording the complete solo piano works of Godowsky for Music & Arts.

INSPIRED BY BACH: WORKS FOR PIANO BY FERRUCCIO BUSONI AND PAOLO TRONCON. Busoni's Fantasie nach J.S. Bach (1909); Prélude et étude en arpèges (1923); Perpetuum mobile (1922); Trills Etude (Veloce e leggiero f. Klavier, 1924), from Vol. 5 of the Klavierübung, 2nd edition and Six Preludes and Fugues (1997) by the contemporary Italian composer Troncon (b. 1959). Carlo Grante, Piano. Total time: 1:09:46 [DDD] UPC # 017685-11572-1.