JUDITH BINGHAM (b.1952): The Moon over Westminster Cathedral, Limehouse Nocturne, Byron, Violet Progress, Christmas Past, Christmas Present, Chopin, Annunciation II, Pictured Within.

Catalogue Number: 06O078

Label: Toccata Classics

Reference: TOCC 0181

Format: CD

Price: $18.98

Description: Bingham's idiom is one of emotional directness expressed in tonal harmony laced with Busonian ambiguity, and an economy of texture that recalls Alan Bush - the piano transcription of her own song that forms the theme of the Byron variations could easily be a spare prelude by Bush. Pianistically, the music steers clear of extravagant virtuosity, and entirely avoids any suggestion of bombast, although this is not to say that a fine romantic sense of drama is by any means absent, but the music's greatly appealing character lies less in pianistic pyrotechnics than a superbly calibrated interplay of harmony and rhythm for expressive effect and atmospheric imagery. Chopin and Liszt, especially the late, enigmatic Liszt, are clearly her mentors in absentia; 'Chopin' evokes the spirit of the composer's music, refracted through Bingham's own language, without direct quotation, while the evocative 'Annunciation II' has echoes of Liszt's evocative scene-setting. There is plenty of variety here, with pieces ranging from the gently nostalgic little 'Christmas' suite to the more emotionally and pianistically challenging 'Pictured Within'. David Jones (piano).

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