Premiere recordings of piano cycles by Sadie Harrison and Cecilia McDowall, plus shorter works by Ruth Barrett, Andrew Downes, Richard Francis, Richard Pantcheff and Jenni Pinnock
English pianist Duncan Honeybourne has premiered over 70 new piano works and his recordings reflect a long association with 20th and 21st century British piano music. In dreams' projections presents an eclectic collection of new piano works written for Honeybourne by a range of composers.
"Working with living composers to bring their music to life has been one of the great joys and privileges of my career. I've had the opportunity to record many of the resulting works, but the idea of an album devoted some of those I hadn't is something that has occupied my mind for some time. Central to this disc is my working relationship with that fine and versatile composer Sadie Harrison, who has to date written four solo piano cycles for me. Sadie and I share a love of history and locality, and both of these find expression in the two works featured here. Portraits from the Place of the Yew Trees depicts Yorkshire people and places, whilst On a Name, written as a fortieth birthday gift for me, takes my own surname as a point of departure and delves into the archives to produce some unexpected sources of inspiration! The Harrison works frame a triptych by Cecilia McDowall which again reflects historical events and characters, this time in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic. The rest of the disc is devoted to shorter pieces, several by composers who have written other works for me. Andrew Downes, Head of Composition at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire for 30 years, has been a close friend and collaborator for a quarter of a century, his distinctive music woven as a thread throughout my career. I premiered his Piano Concerto at Birmingham Town Hall in 2009, and the piece on this album, Une Promenade, was composed during the 2020 pandemic. Most of the works on the album are very recent, the exception being Ruth Barrett's Pictures in the Snow, which was written when I was 16 and the composer just a year older. It was the first piece I ever premiered, in one of my first London recitals when we were both studying in the RAM Junior Department. It is Ruth's op.2, very evocative and haunting. She is now one of Britain's most successful and sought-after composers for TV and film." Duncan Honeybourne
Duncan Honeybourne has toured extensively in the UK, Ireland and Europe as soloist and chamber musician. He has broadcast for over 20 years on BBC Radio 3 and more than 20 radio networks worldwide, including French, Swiss and Austrian Radio, ABC (Australia) and Radio New Zealand. He is a Tutor in Piano at the Royal Academy of Music Junior Academy, the University of Southampton and Sherborne School.
