Transcriptions

Michael Habermann (piano)

Cd cover image Transcriptions

Duration: 68:20

Track 1-4: Rapsodie Espagnole (18:05)
Track 1: I Prélude à la nuit (5:00)
Track 2: II Malaguena (2:27)
Track 3: III Habanera (2;16)
Track 4: IV Feria (8:15)
Track 5-10: Passeggiata Veneziana (21:33)
Track 11: Symphonic Variations Variation 56 (2:41)
Track 12: Quasi Habanera (4:59)
Track 13-14: Chromatic Fantasia (J.S.Bach) (transcription with another Bach fugue) (15:23)
Track 15: Pasticcio Capriccioso (Valse in D flat major, op.64/1 [Chopin]) (4:13)

“Thirty years ago, as Sorabji’s music started to be put before the public, mostly in homeopathic doses, it would have seemed surreal to suggest that now we would have access to a very respectable cross-section of his output at the hands of an increasing band of performers of exceptional dedication and accomplishments. This disc, based around the idea of transcription or allusion to other composers, adds to the recorded repertoire the Chromatic Fantasia transcription, which is obviously in the tradition of the great Busoni-Bach transcriptions, though with a keyboard extravgance that has more in common with Grainger. The Ravel transcription is more literal — almost an arrangement. One variation from the vast Symphonic Variations for Piano — related to the idea of the finale of the Chopin 2nd Sonata — is included (we may not have to wait as long to hear the whole work as might have seemed inevitable just a few years ago) — to give a further taste of the increasingly evident range of expression of one of the major figures of 20th-century music.” (Records International)