Osborne, G A: La Nouvelle Pluie de Perles (Shower of Pearls)

RTÉ lyric fm is delighted to release a second CD from Una Hunt that is committed to reawakening interest in neglected Irish composers. Fallen Leaves from an Irish Piano Album gathers together for the first time the many strands of successful piano writing by nineteenth-century Irish composers.

Ireland's best known piano composer John Field is represented by one of his famous Nocturnes. Other names on the CD range from early composers like Thomas Augustine Geary and Philip Cogan to Charles Villiers Stanford who was a major force in the renaissance of English music at the end of the century. The Italian pianist Michele Esposito came to Ireland as professor at the Royal Irish Academy of Music and became the most important educational force in Irish pianism.

The music on Fallen Leaves from an Irish Piano Album is drawn largely from the music collections at the National Library of Ireland and is a joint venture by the library and RTÉ lyric fm.

A fascinating array of unknown repertoire from the neglected Limerick-born composer, George Alexander Osborne. The result is a definitive collection of delightful piano works and chamber music, given superb renditions by Una Hunt piano, Justin Pearson cello, and Triantán Piano Trio.