BBCNOWDrop ShadowSIMONCALLAGHANpianist

Recordings

1
Madeleine Dring
Danza Gaya
2:00
2
Madeleine Dring
Valse française
4:12
3
Madeleine Dring
Italian Dance
2:13
4
Madeleine Dring
Caribbean Dance
2:07
5
Dorothy Howell
Recuerdos preciosos No. 1 in B minor
6:37
6
Dorothy Howell
Recuerdos preciosos No. 2 in E♭
3:47
Pamela Harrison
Dance Little Lady
14:13
7
I.Allegro assai1:44
8
II.Moderato3:22
9
III.Allegro: Tempo di Valse1:27
10
IV.Lento2:45
11
V.Con moto1:44
12
VI.Tempo giusto3:11
Madeleine Dring
Sonata for Two Pianos
15:30
13
I.Drammatico e maestoso8:19
14
II.Élégie: Sotto voce4:02
15
III.Allegro vigoroso3:09
Madeleine Dring
Three for Two
2:42
16
I.Country Dance0:51
17
II.The Quiet Pool1:05
18
III.Hobby-Horse0:46
19
Madeleine Dring
Tarantelle
3:22
Madeleine Dring
Four Duets
3:19
20
I.May Morning0:54
21
II.Little Waltz0:40
22
III.The Evening Star1:02
23
IV.Morris Dance0:43
24
Dorothy Howell
Mazurka
2:14
25
Dorothy Howell
Spindrift
1:52
Madeleine Dring
Three Fantastic Variations on 'Lilliburlero'
9:15
26
I.Allegro1:40
27
II.Andante3:14
28
III.Allegro brightly4:21
Recording date29-31 August 2023
Recording locationWyastone Concert Hall, Monmouth, UK
ProducerAdrian Farmer
EngineerAdrian Farmer & Simon Callaghan
Release date1 March 2024
LabelLyrita
Catalogue numberSRCD433
Duration73:22
Cover artworkThyrididae [moth], wing detail. Taken on 8 July 2016 in Arfak Mountain, West Papua, Indonesia. © Hiroaki Takenouchi
Danza Gaya cover

With Hiroaki Takenouchi (piano)

Dorothy Howell, Pamela Harrison and Madeleine Dring worked in the same country at the same time, studied at the Royal Academy or the Royal College, and built double careers as composer-performers. All three wrote tonal music with a great deal of wit in it — and both of those things told against them once the century turned away from such writing. The two-piano medium suited them exactly: popular in the concert hall and in light entertainment alike, it let them write music that was as much fun to watch as to play. The programme ranges from Dring's dances and her Sonata for Two Pianos to Howell's Recuerdos preciosos and Harrison's Dance Little Lady.