…Of Dreams Unveiled
Self-Released, 2024
8/10
The debut album from the pianist Clare Longendyke, the pieces here consist of works by Claude Debussy and commissioned selections via Amy Williams and Anthony R. Green, which contains much emotion and agility.
“Préludes, Livre I: La Cathédrale engloutie”, by DeBussy, opens the listen with a soft intimacy that uses lower registers versus bright tonality, and Williams’ “Piano Portraits, Book I: Yvar” rumbles with a distinct mood, as the mesmerizing spirit draws us in.
Closer to the middle, “Piano Portraits, Book II: Nils”, by Williams, presents plenty of minimal, nearly haunting moments, while “Fugue — suivant « Des pas sur la neige” is an upbeat and swift display of stunning finger acrobatics from the Green composition.
Near to the end, DeBussy’s “Préludes, Livre II: La puerta del Vino” balances atmosphere and melody in unpredictable, rich ways for the album’s best, and Green’s “To Anacreon in the US” exits with a firm rumbling and mysteriousness.
An excellent first album from a talent that anyone with an ear for piano music should be paying attention to, Longendyke bridges classical and contemporary ideas with incredible attention to detail.
Travels well with: Myroslava Khomik- Protest; Richard Crosby- By The Waters Of Memory