Helen Hopekirk: Piano Music
The Scottish musician Helen Hopekirk (1856–1945), regarded as one of the major concert pianists of her generation, also made a lasting contribution as a piano teacher in Boston after her emigration in 1897. As a composer, she forged an intriguing path by turning to the music of her native country as the wellspring of her creativity: the early pieces can sound like Brahms in the Highlands, and her later works marry Debussyan Impressionism with Hebridean folk-music, to evocative, touching and exhilarating effect.
Gary Steigerwalt, piano
Listen To This Recording:
-
Iona Memories (1902–7)
- Iona Memories: I Wandering
- Iona Memories: II Cronan: A Hushing Song
- Iona Memories: III In the Ruins
- Iona Memories: IV A Twilight Tale
- Romance in A minor
- Serenade in F sharp major
- Five Scottish Folksongs: No. 1 Land o? the Leal
- Five Scottish Folksongs: No. 2 Turn ye to me
- Five Scottish Folksongs: No. 5 Eilidh Bhan
- Sundown
- Serenata Suite: I Maestoso
- Suite for Piano: I Sarabande
- Suite for Piano: II Minuet
- Suite for Piano: III Air
- Waltz in F sharp major
- Two Compositions for Piano: No. 1, Shadows
- Robin Good-Fellow
- Two Tone-Pictures: No. 1, Dance to Your Shadow
- Two Tone-Pictures: No. 2, The Seal-woman’s Sea-joy
Romance in A minor (1885)
Serenade in F sharp major (1891)
Five Scottish Folksongs (1919)
Sundown (1905)
Serenata Suite (1918)
Suite for Piano (1917)
Waltz in F sharp major (c. 1915–20)
Two Compositions for Piano (1924)
Robin Good-Fellow (1922)
Two Tone-Pictures (1929–30)
All First Recordings
MusicWeb International :
‘I have really enjoyed listening to this CD, obviously because of the music but also because the performances and recording are so fine, and are accompanied by an encyclopaedic booklet written by the pianist Gary Steigerwalt and his wife, Dana Muller.’
—Jim Westhead, MusicWeb International