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William Howard: Sixteen Contemporary Love Songs
William Howard (piano)
Sixteen Contemporary Love Songs is a gorgeous collection, and it’s beautifully played here…There’s something for all tastes, from Howard Skempton’s spare solitary Highland Song to the expansive...
William Howard: Sixteen Contemporary Love Songs
William Howard (piano)
Purchase product
Sixteen Contemporary Love Songs is a gorgeous collection, and it’s beautifully played here…There’s something for all tastes, from Howard Skempton’s spare solitary Highland Song to the expansive...
About
This new album from renowned British pianist William Howard features sixteen world premiere recordings from composers such as Judith Weir, Nico Muhly and Arcade Fire’s Richard Reed Parry. Entitled Sixteen Contemporary Love Songs, the album marks the next step in William’s two-year Love Songs project, which explores the theme of love in romantic and contemporary piano music.
William contacted leading composers around the world with a simple brief: to write a piece of music for solo piano that explores the theme of love. The resulting Sixteen Contemporary Love Songs celebrate love in all its forms and provide a unique insight into the modern composer’s response to the love song genre.
Contents and tracklist
Awards and reviews
August 2018
Sixteen Contemporary Love Songs is a gorgeous collection, and it’s beautifully played here…There’s something for all tastes, from Howard Skempton’s spare solitary Highland Song to the expansive gestures of Cheryl Frances-Hoad’s Love song for Dusty (Springfield).
27th May 2018
Top prize went to Chia-Ying Lin, whose Chanson perpétuelle has manifest flair. Cheryl Frances-Hoad’s Love Song for Dusty (Springfield) is an endearing oddity; Judith Weir’s piece, fragile, has her typical composing sinew. Robert Saxton’s For Teresa and Michael Zev Gordon’s For Fiammetta are concise, charming wife-wooings.
October 2018
William Howard’s chameleon-like ability to get under the skin of each work is impressive, and he's given fulsome recorded sound. Documentation is exemplary.
