Frederick Septimus Kelly: Piano Music
Frederick Septimus Kelly, born in Sydney in 1881, was on the way to becoming one of Australia’s most important early composers when he was killed during the Battle of the Somme in 1916. His Twelve Studies and 24 Monographs are the most significant contributions to the Romantic piano literature by any Australian, although they have never been recorded in their entirety before now. The influence of Chopin and Skryabin is plain to hear, although the pastoral echoes of the gentler pieces suggest an affinity with his English contemporaries – men like Elgar, Ireland and Vaughan Williams – and the wild sweep of the more passionate numbers points to Kelly’s familiarity with the music of Brahms and Schumann. Each piece, though a ‘miniature’, contains a world of feeling and emotional resonance, suggesting that Kelly stood on the threshold of greatness.
Alex Wilson, piano
First recordings
Listen To This Recording:
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Twelve Studies, Op. 9 (1907–13)
- No. 1 Allegro maestoso
- No. 2 Scorrevole
- No. 3 Allegro grazioso
- No. 4 Allegro non troppo
- No. 5 Adagio espressivo
- No. 6 Tempo rubato
- No. 7 Allegro molto
- No. 8 Poco allegretto
- No. 9 Vivace e molto leggiero
- No. 10 Allegro moderato
- No. 11 Allegro commodo
- No. 12 Allegretto
- No. 12b Allegro
- No. 1 Allegro
- No. 2 Andante quasi allegretto
- No. 3 Poco allegretto
- No. 4 Maestoso
- No. 5 Adagio sostenuto
- No. 6 Espressivo
- No. 7 Allegro maestoso
- No. 8 Allegro molto
- No. 9 Allegretto con grazia, ma semplice
- No. 10 Molto agitato
- No. 11 Poco allegretto
- No. 12 Allegro agitato
- No. 13 Semplice, senza rigidità
- No. 14 Vivace ma non troppo presto
- No. 15 Allegretto pastorale
- No. 16 Andante con moto e sempre ben marcato
- No. 17 Allegretto grazioso
- No. 18 Allegretto sostenuto
- No. 19 Maestoso
- No. 20 Sofferente e sovento mancando – Allegretto
- No. 21 Grandioso e non troppo presto
- No. 22 Allegretto dolente
- No. 23 Con amore ma non senza sentimento
- No. 24 Allegro largamente
24 Monographs, Op. 11 (1914–16)
MusicWeb International :
‘Kelly’s piano music has been rather overshadowed by his orchestral works and in particular his Elegy in memoriam Rupert Brooke which makes this release valuable in extending appreciation of this area of his compositional life. The notes are everything one could want in a project of this kind; Christopher Latham deals largely with the biography and the context in which the pieces were composed whilst Alex Wilson focuses on the specifics of the pieces played. He plays with disarming candour and charm and, as one would expect of him – who has performed Butterworth, Gurney, Ernest Farrar, Cecil Coles and others – he is a stylish exponent and has been finely recorded.’
—Jonathan Woolf, MusicWeb International