Composer: Phillip Ramey
Performer: Stephen Gosling
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Toccata
Catalogue: TOCC0153
Release: 2013
Size: 250 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
Incantations
01. I. Allegro
02. II. Andante
03. III. Con moto
Cossack Variations
04. Theme: Moderato
05. Variation 1: L’istesso tempo
06. Variation 2: Allegretto
07. Variation 3: Allegro
08. Variation 4: Allegro moderato
09. Variation 5: Moderato
10. Variation 6: Adagio
11. Variation 7: Moderato con moto
12. Variation 8: Allegro con spirito
13. Variation 9: Vivace
14. Variation 10: Andante lirico
15. Variation 11: Vivace
16. Variation 12: Andante
17. Variation 13: Andante maestoso
3 Early Preludes
18. No. 1. Andante lugubrioso
19. No. 2. Adagio enigmatico
20. No. 3. Allegro giocoso
Piano Sonata No. 3
21. I. Moderato austero
22. II. Andante meditativo
23. III. Allegro demonico
Epigrams, Book 2
24. I. Calm
25. I. Melancholy
26. III. Scornful
27. IV. Desolate
28. V. Demonic
29. VI. Solemn
30. VII. Grandiose
31. VIII. Lyrical
32. IX. Angry
33. Lament for Richard III
Piano Sonata No. 7
34. I. Adagio con moto – Scherzando – Alla marcia – Tempo I
35. II. Adagio lirico
36. III. Andante – Presto – Allegro moderato – Presto
The piano music of the American composer Phillip Ramey (born in 1939) is rooted in the motoric athleticism of Prokofiev and Bartók, tempered with sober lyricism, spicy modernist dissonance and a fresh approach to the grand Romantic gesture. This is the fourth Toccata Classics album dedicated to his music – MusicWeb International called it ‘a terrific Toccata series’ It includes the virtuosic Cossack Variations, the mercurial Epigrams, Book Two and Lament for Richard III, a dramatic character-study of a famous historical villain. Two sonatas add further substance to a varied programme: No. 3, serially inflected and culminating in a barbaric finale; and No. 7, infused with declamatory rhetoric, quirky rhythm and engaging melody.