Roy AGNEW: Piano Music
Roy Agnew (1891–1944) – one of few early-twentieth-century Australian composers to gain international success – wove many external influences into a warmly Romantic personal style of striking variety and wide appeal, and his compositions, largely for the piano, are startlingly virtuosic, harmonically daring and charmingly sentimental by turn. Beautifully written by a natural pianist for his own instrument, they often recall the virtuosic textures of Liszt and Skryabin and occasionally show flashes of the Impressionist colours of Debussy.
Stephanie McCallum, piano
Listen To This Recording:
- Rhapsody (1928)*
- Toccata (1933)
- I: Whither
- II: Exaltation
- I
- II
- III
- A Dance Impression (1927)*
- Drifting Mists (1931)
- Sonata (1929)
- Etude (1924)*
- I
- II
- III
- Sonata Poème (1929, completed 1935)
- I The Falling Snow
- II A Quest
- III The Happy Lad
- Elf Dance: Etude (1928)*
- A May Day (1927)*
- No. 1 Gnome Dance
- No. 2 When Evening Shadows Fall
- No. 3 Forest Nymphs at Play
- No. 4 Night in the Forest
- No. 5 By a Quiet Stream
- No. 6 The Forest Grandeur
Two Pieces for Piano (1931)*
Three Preludes (1927)*
Three Poems (1927)*
Three Lyrics (1927)*
Australian Forest Pieces (1913)*
*FIRST RECORDING
MusicWeb International :
‘McCallum is a vibrant and sensitive exponent of Agnew’s music, never inflating it, but drawing its profile with poetic discretion.’
—Jonathan Woolf, MusicWeb International
Loudmouth MusicTrust :
‘Flying under the radar for too long, Roy Agnew re-emerges here as a gifted composer who died before the full extent of his talents could find expression[…] There could be no better advocate for Agnew’s music than McCallum, an accomplished pianist with deep musical insights and a superb technique[…]Stephanie McCallum, one of Australia’s most distinguished pianists, is an outstanding musician who has achieved with this CD an important milestone in revitalising interest in a lesser-known composer.’
—Gwen Bennett Loudmouth MusicTrust, July 2020
Limelight :
‘McCallum brings her talent and virtuosity together with a keen sense for historical significance and enjoyment, on a disc that belongs in the collection of every connoisseur of Australian music.’
—Ben Wilkie, Limelight, February 2020
Fanfare :
‘This is a superb exploration of rare repertoire, beautifully recorded in the Verbrugghen Hall of the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and played with true devotion ensconced within a superior technique.’
—Fanfare