Composer: Jurriaan Andriessen, Louis Andriessen, Willem Andriessen, Jacob Bogaart, Willem Frederik Bon, Cor de Groot, Ignace Lilien, Ferencz Liszt, Léon Orthel
Performer: Folke Nauta, Jacob Bogaart
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Piano Classics
Catalogue: PCL10259
Release: 2022
Size: 467 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
Groot: Homenajes
01. I. à Federico Mompou, sempre tenuto e cantando
02. II. à Isaac Albéniz, con molto rubato
03. III. à Hugo Godron, con brio
Groot: Sonatine in A Minor sempre con fantasia e molto rubato
04. I. Allegro
05. II. Adagio
06. III. Presto
07. Groot: Canzone in B Minor (1975, Dedicated to Emil Gilels, With Great Admiration)
Groot: Dansflarden
08. I. Avec Plaisir
09. II. À la manière de J.F.
10. III. Alla marcia
11. IV. Allegretto
12. V. Poco allegro, a tempo di numero quattro
Groot: Oud-Hollandsche Suite in 11 Parts
13. I. Maestoso e presto energico
14. II. Adagio, poco lento
15. III. Allegretto con moto
16. IV. Allegro non troppo
17. V. Presto
18. VI. Allegretto
19. VII. Andante con moto
20. VIII. Allegro
21. IX. Vivo
22. X. Andante
23. XI. Presto
24. Groot: Tirage pour trois mains avant-la-garde et avant la letter
Groot: Suite Française on Themes of Hogo Godron
25. I. Marche Miniature
26. II. Serenade tranquillo Assai
27. III. Allegro à la Rumba
28. Bogaart: EnCor, à la mémoire de monsieur Serge
Groot: Apparitions
29. I. Marcia
30. II. Agitato
31. III. Con moto
32. IV. Andante
33. V. Poco lento
34. VI. Vehemente, tumultuoso (Concert Version)
35. VII. Andante tranquillo
Lilien: 5 Préludes
36. I. Tempo di mazurka (motif: C-D-G)
37. II. Presto leggiero
38. III. Andante
39. IV. Andante cantabile
40. V. Allegro scherzando. Tempo di polka
Orthel: Sonatina No. 5, Op. 44
41. I. Poco allegro
42. II. Molto tranquillo e rubato
43. III. Allegretto
Bon: 2 Preludes
44. I. Adagio
45. II. Sostenuto
46. Andriessen W: Preludium
Andriessen J: Quattro pezzi
47. I. Fanfare. Andante
48. II. Allegro deciso
49. III. Adagio
50. IV. Vivo
Andriessen L: Trois pieces
51. I. Promenade
52. II. Fracas (dict: noise, rattling, mayhem, L.A.)
53. III. Hymne (Promenade II)
54. Groot: Canzone dolorosa
55. Groot: Irish Waltz
56. Groot: Cloches dans le matin
57. Liszt: Liebestraum No. 3
The name of Cor de Groot (1914-1993) adorned the cover of many LPs of canonic concertos and sonatas throughout the 1950s, when his qualities were summed up in High Fidelity magazine in a review of the first two concertos of Beethoven: “De Groot is a solid and sympathetic interpreter in the Central European tradition… His playing impresses with its substance and authority rather than with ostentation and glitter”.
Cor de Groot (July 7, 1914 – May 26, 1993) was a Dutch pianist and composer. Born in Amsterdam, he studied piano with Egbert Veen and Ulferts Schults, and composition and conducting with Sem Dresden. In 1932 he graduated with highest honors, playing a piano concerto written by himself. After becoming a soloist with the Concertgebouw Orchestra he embarked on a highly successful international career. If some (though not yet all) of his recordings as a pianist have received modern reissues on CD, his own compositions have received comparatively little attention. An early Sonatina pokes fun at serial technique, before an Old Holland Suite deftly sketches a sequence of 11 Dutch landscapes and portraits. A sequence of five Homenajes documents his fondness for Spain, played here by its dedicatee Jacob Bogaart.
Folke Nauta likewise became a friend and colleague of de Groot, making him an ideal pianist to record the repertoire for left-hand piano which the composer wrote once a long term injury to his right hand had derailed his career at the end of the 1950s. Eastern European influences such as Bartók can be found in most of the seven movements of Apparitions, while a trio of later miniatures such as Cloches dans le matin (1979) makes a virtue of simplicity. Between them, Nauta has made an imaginative selection of music written for de Groot, as a left-handed pianist, by friends and colleagues including Willem, Juuriaan and Louis Andriessen, all receiving their first recordings here.
The collection ends on a note of personal homage and affection with EnCor, which Jacob Bogaart wrote in 2013 as a reminiscence of his improvisation and practice sessions with de Groot. Both pianists contribute substantial essays to the booklet, which is further enhanced by a memoir of the pianist by the curator, musicologist and producer Frits Zwart: “I was, of course, impressed by this world-famous pianist,’ he recalls, ‘a very ordinary man in his doings, also in his outward appearance. Nothing about him betrayed the great artist”. The first part of this set dedicated to Cor de Groot presents works for piano left hand, by Cor de Groot, Ignace Lilien (1897-1964), Léon Orthel (1905-1985), Willem Frederik Bon (1940-1983), the brothers Jurriaan (1925-1996), and Louis Andriessen (1939-2021) as well as by their uncle Willem Andriessen (1887-1964); the second part contains works for piano solo by Cor de Groot.