Grainger: Harvest Hymn

“Grainger stylishly presented in Grainger’s own words with his own music. There’s no better place to start but even seasoned Grainger enthusiasts - those who already have the stunning Chandos Grainger Edition - will find much of value here.” MusicWeb International, March 2013

“The Bilder Duo, pianists Caroline Weichert and Clemens Rave, are frankly impeccable in this repertoire, technically spot-on and a lot of fun for the ears. They’ve been a duo since 2007, and they clearly enjoy this music... it all comes down to how you like your Grainger: if you like it on keyboards, run out and grab this.” MusicWeb International, March 2013

“A wonderful album of Grainger's solo piano music.... her devotion to his art shines out of her playing.” CD Review

“As perhaps Grainger's most passionate advocate, Penelope Thwaites’s playing has the fullest measure of intensity, style and commitment with an abundance of wistfulness, humour and lyricism” Hampstead Express

“Again Grainger amazes, amuses, arouses, intrigues. These 'Songs for mezzo' originate in Britain (with an excellent sequence of Scottish songs), Jutland and Australia. Some are folksongs collected in the early years of the century; two have words by Kipling, five by Ella, Grainger's wife, and some have no words at all.
The latter are fortifying antidotes to those textmerchants who think that song is essentially 'about' the communication of words, whereas everybody knows that you sing (la-la, dee-dee, as in these of Grainger) because a tune has taken your fancy and singing it makes you feel better.
It's really Della Jones's record, or hers and that of the admirable Penelope Thwaites. But the menfolk appear occasionally and always to effect. Mark Padmore is a resourceful tenor with hints here that he has in reserve a vibrant, rather Italianate body of tone. Jones hereself is a natural for Grainger: she has the spirit to match, and, like him, a certain ambiguity in her forthrightness, so that at times we're not quite sure what's serious and what's a bit of fun. The Colonial Song ('Sentimental No 1') is unashamedly nostalgic, but with an element of send-up too: in the piano solos especially a joyful passage of inspired improvisation that's both a joke and 'for real'.
Also for real is the prime quality of this disc, with 15 tracks 'premiere recordings' and 14 'premiere recordings in this version'.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“This is perhaps one of the most riveting and satisfying anthologies of Grainger's music. Hamelin's superb control and artistry just about sweep the board if you're looking for a disc that not only brings you all the old favourites but also explores some of the less familiar music, such as Grainger's arrangements of two of Stanford's Irish Dances, the Cakewalk Smasher, In Dahomey or some of the rather less familiar folk-music settings such as The Merry King – the latter a delightful discovery.
The deceptive ease with which Hamelin presents these pieces is quite breathtaking. The Irish Tunefrom County Derry, for instance, contains some exacting problems which call on the pianist to play ppp in the outer fingers and mf with the middle in order to bring out the melody which Grainger places almost entirely within the middle register of the piano, and yet Hamelin makes it sound incredibly natural.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010