William Walton's Siesta, featured on this album, was originally dedicated to Stephen Tennant, an eccentric artist whose social circle brought Walton and Constant Lambert together.
Composition History
Constant Lambert, a composer on this album, was intimately involved in the history of William Walton's Façade, from its inception as a private 'Entertainment' to its final forms.
Composer Biography
Constant Lambert's eight settings of poems by Li Po, a Chinese poet of the Tang dynasty, form the entirety of his output for voice and piano.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Constant Lambert, a composer on this album, could evoke a compelling joie de vivre using globally enriched harmonic and rhythmic resources, and drew on Western European traditions.
Composition History
Constant Lambert dedicated all eight of his Li Po songs to Anna May Wong, an American-Chinese film and stage actress, due to his unrequited obsession with her.
Compositional Technique
Lambert's Trois pièces nègres pour les touches blanches, featured on this album, are 'black' pieces composed entirely on the white keys of the piano.
Composer Biography
William Walton described Constant Lambert, a co-composer on this album, as 'one of my closest friends for nearly 30 years'.
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