JOHN IRELAND (1879-1962): Decorations, The Almond Trees, 4 Preludes, Prelude in E Flat, Rhapsody, The Towing-Path, Merry Andrew, London Pieces, Summer Evening, Sonata, 2 Pieces (For Remembrance, Amberley Wild Brooks), The Darkened Valley, Equinox, On a Birthday Morning, Soliloquy, 2 Pieces (April, Bergamask), Sonatina, Ballade, 2 Pieces (February's Child, Aubade), Month's Mind, Greenways - 3 Lyric Pieces, Sarnia - An Island Sequence.

Description: A self-recommending first-ever complete traversal of Ireland's richly evocative piano music. These discs are cheaper than the Naxos equivalent - and Naxos isn't finished with their set yet anyway. Christopher Palmer's complete 3 LP jackets' worth of liner notes exhaustively connect Ireland's own brand of Impressionism with the literature of Arthur Machen - the special, timeless, sometimes threatenting, sometimes alluring atmosphere of pre-Christian archeological remains (for Machen in Wales, for Ireland in the Channel Islands and the Sussex Downs) which fit marvellously with Ireland's Celtic temperament to produce a passionate, sensuous and mystical response to the geographical stimuli. 3 CDs. Eric Parkin (piano). Budget-price. Recorded 1975. Original 1975, 1977 and 1978 LP releases.