BRIAN CHAPPLE (b.1945): Bagatelles diverses, Requies, Sonata, Burlesque for 2 Pianos, 4 pieces from A Bit of a Blow for Piano Duet.

Description: Varied and appealing, these piano works are mostly witty, tonal miniatures, sometimes broadly jazz-inflected. The 2-piano Burlesque opens portentously, but soon lets its hair down in a Spanish dance movement, a scherzo and 'big-band' finale with shades of Gershwin and Brubeck. The Piano Sonata is the earliest work here (1986) and the toughest, with something of Alan Bush in its astringent harmonies and restless irregular rhythms. The Bagatelles are sharply contrasted one against another, and taken in isolation they are little character pieces of charm; the whole set coalesces into a perceptibly more substantial structure as it progresses. Requies, inspired by scenes of devastation from the first Gulf war is slow and elegiac throughout, clear of texture and sonorous. The Four Pieces return to the swing/ragtime mood of the Burlesque. Goldstone and Clemmow.