Composer: Adam Gorb
Performer: Clare Hammond
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Toccata Classics
Catalogue: TOCC 0620
Release: 2022
Size: 1.1 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
24 preludes
01. No.1, Prestissimo rit. Throughout
02. No.2, Coming Together. Lento
03. No.3, Klezfest. Scherzando
04. No.4, Madam I’m Adam. Prestissimo
05. No.5, Tango for 2 Saxophones & Broken Accordion. Andante pesante
06. No.6, Siciliano. Andantino with a lilt
07. No.7, Lift Off. Vivace energico
08. No.8, Childhood Memory. Adagio
09. No.9, In the Cold Light of Day Allegro pesante
10. No.10, The Girl with the White Parasol. Poco vivace leggiero
11. No.11, Edulerp. Gravissimo accel.
12. No.12, Drums. Allegro
13. No.13, Sliding Doors. Allegretto vivace
14. No.14, Adagietto
15. No.15, Samatha. Gravissimo
16. No.16, Survivor. Lento rubato
17. No.17, Autumn Leaf. Allegro misterioso
18. No.18, Globalisation. Lento recitativo
19. No.19, Valse triste. Allegretto
20. No.20, Ouverture française. Vivace con brio
21. No.21, Prestissimo
22. No.22, Mini Mambo. Allegro molto
23. No.23, Birthday Bash. Prestissimo
24. No.24, Fugue. Grandioso – Andante tranquillo
25. Velocity
The 24 Preludes of Adam Gorb (born in Cardiff in 1958 and a feature of musical life in Manchester for over two decades) follow the examples of Chopin and Shostakovich in describing a cycle of fifths – though his descend, whereas Chopin’s and Shostakovich’s go up. Like those earlier exemplars, and as with the Preludes of Debussy, Rachmaninov and others, Gorb’s are miniature studies of personality and mood – charming, brittle, perky, languorous, bat-flight fast, borderline violent or tender. His Velocity does what it says on the tin: it’s a wild, even manic, chase, over rhythmically dislocating ground.