Composer: Ronald Center
Performer: Christopher Guild
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Toccata
Catalogue: TOCC0179
Release: 2013
Size: 194 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
Piano Sonata
01. I. Allegro molto
02. II. Adagio
03. III. Andante – Presto ed appassionato – Allegro
04. IV. Molto allegro
6 Bagatelles, Op. 3
05. No. 1. Poco adagio e teneramente
06. No. 2. Allegro
07. No. 3. Mesto
08. No. 4. Energico e ritmico
09. No. 5. Andantino
10. No. 6. Vivo
11. Andante
12. Sarabande
13. Air
Pantomime
14. No. 1. Pantaloon
15. No. 2. Columbine
16. No. 3. Harlequin
17. Larghetto
Sonatine
18. I. Allegro
19. II. Poco adagio
20. III. Vivace
21. Hommage
3 Etudes
22. No. 1. Presto
23. No. 2. Andante
24. No. 3. Allegro moto
25. Impromptu
3 Movements
26. No. 1. Prelude
27. No. 2. Poco Adagio
28. No. 3. Toccata
Ronald Center (1913–73) is sometimes described as ‘the Scottish Bartók’, and his music does indeed capture some of the wild energy of the Scottish landscape in a style of Bartókian asperity. It shows affinities with the music of Busoni, Debussy, Prokofiev, Shostakovich and Vaughan Williams, absorbed into an individual style that is audibly Scots. Center wrote with striking concision and meticulous craftsmanship, his works encompassing a range of emotions – heart-felt sorrow, grim humour, relaxed lyricism, dark despair – in a crisp and succinct manner, animated by sharp wit and irony. This April saw the centenary of Center’s birth, an anniversary unmarked in his native Scotland. This release came about through the efforts of three expatriate Scots: the pianist Christopher Guild, writer and Center expert James Reid Baxter and record-label-owner Martin Anderson of Toccata Classics. Center’s best-known student is the broadcaster James Naughtie, who has written fondly of his old teacher.