Christopher Guild – Stevenson: Piano Music, Vol. 5 (2021) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

The personal generosity that made the Scottish composer Ronald Stevenson (1928–2015) such a warm and vibrant character extended also to his writing-desk: around a quarter of his enormous output is given over to transcriptions, mostly for piano, of music by other composers. Here he pays homage to three earlier colleagues whose music he particularly esteemed: Purcell, Delius and van Dieren. Stevenson described his version of Van Dieren’s String Quartet No. 5 (1931) as “transcribed as a piano sonata (which B. v. D. never composed)” – and thus it became the piano sonata which Stevenson himself never composed. The album ends with Stevenson’s brief but achingly beautiful harmonisation of Purcell’s The Queen’s Dolour – as exquisite an example of the transcriber’s art as anyone could wish.

Tracklist:
01. Christopher Guild – Toccata in A Major (Transcr. R. Stevenson for Piano) [Attrib. J.S. Bach as BWV Anh. 178] (06:45)
02. Christopher Guild – Hornpipe (After Purcell) (02:51)
03. Christopher Guild – No. 1 in C Minor (02:38)
04. Christopher Guild – No. 2 in E-Flat Minor (02:51)
05. Christopher Guild – No. 3 in D Minor (02:28)
06. Christopher Guild – No. 1, Dance (00:59)
07. Christopher Guild – No. 2, Tune from “Brigg Fair” (01:00)
08. Christopher Guild – No. 3, La Calinda (01:52)
09. Christopher Guild – No. 4, Serenade (01:00)
10. Christopher Guild – No. 5, The Cuckoo (02:08)
11. Christopher Guild – No. 6, Late Swallows (01:05)
12. Christopher Guild – No. 7, Intermezzo (01:12)
13. Christopher Guild – No. 8, Tune from “String Quartet” (00:43)
14. Christopher Guild – No. 9, Tune from “Violin Sonata No. 2” (01:04)
15. Christopher Guild – No. 10, Themes from “Song of the High Hills” (02:22)
16. Christopher Guild – Little Jazz Variations on Purcell’s “New Scotch Tune” (06:03)
17. Christopher Guild – I. Con moto ben sostenuto (08:18)
18. Christopher Guild – II. Molto tranquillo (05:13)
19. Christopher Guild – III. Impetuosamente (02:09)
20. Christopher Guild – IV. Con spirito (05:48)
21. Christopher Guild – V. Adagio cantando (06:28)
22. Christopher Guild – VI. Finale. Allegro con grazia (06:34)
23. Christopher Guild – Weep You No More, Sad Fountains (Transcr. R. Stevenson for Piano) (04:20)
24. Christopher Guild – Spring Song of the Birds (Transcr. R. Stevenson for Piano) (01:28)
25. Christopher Guild – The Queen’s Dolour, Z. 670 “A Farewell” (Transcr. R. Stevenson for Piano) (03:25)