Tcherepnin: Prelude, Op. 83, No. 9

This unusual album begins with archival recordings, in excellent sound, of the Russian-born composer-pianist Alexander Tcherepnin (1899–1977) playing some of his most memorable piano music.

The early Sonata No. 1 (1918–19) is a brilliant, virtuosic study in dramatic Slavic romanticism.

The atmospheric late Sonata No. 2 (1961), never commercially recorded by the composer, is an elegant example of mild modernism in continuous thematic evolution.

The second part of the CD, performed by the Russian pianist Mikhail Shilyaev, presents a selection of attractive, rarely heard works from various periods in Tcherepnin's career.

They further illustrate Tcherepnin’s Prokofiev-like fondness for spiky humour, pungent harmony and crisp melody.

Alexander Tcherepnin (1899-1977) belonged to a family of Russian composers who fled the revolution there to settle in Paris in 1921. He made his Western début as a pianist/composer in London in 1922 and in 1926 he toured the USA. He moved to Chicago in 1950 and took up American citizenship in 1958.

Tcherepnin travelled the world widely, spending some years in Japan and China, where he met his future wife, herself a pianist. On returning to Europe, the couple married and had a family of three sons, two of whom became composers.

The second disc of this set contains a selection of songs composed by Alexander's father, Nikolai Tcherepnin (1873-1945) who was a notable conductor in pre-revolutionary Russia. His best known composition is the ballet Le pavillon d'Armide, written in 1907 which was one of the first ballets given in Paris by Diaghilev's Ballets Russes in 1909.

This set should prove the perfect introduction to the smaller-scale music of these little-known Russian masters.