The album, titled "Time Traveler's Suite," is an attempt to journey through the continuous musical legacy of composers across centuries.
Interpretation
Pianist Inon Barnatan assembled this suite using the Baroque dance suite form, compiling pieces from composers spanning over 300 years, with Bach's Toccata acting as the overture.
Composer's Artistic Vision
The album highlights how composers like Bach and Couperin transformed dance movements into complex music, and how later composers like Ravel and Thomas Adès used these influences as a departure point for their own unique styles.
Critical Reception
Richard Wagner, Brahms's supposed musical enemy, praised Brahms's Handel Variations, remarking that it showed what could still be done with old forms by someone who knew how to handle them.
Historical Context
The album's pieces span centuries and locations, from Bach in Germany and Handel in London, to Rameau and Couperin in Paris, and later Ravel in the same city.
You might also enjoy...
From the Early 20th, Vol. 2
Martin Jones: 75th Birthday Tribute
Horowitz: Virtuoso Transcriptions for Piano
Forgotten Dances
Dances for Zoe
Albeniz / Scarlatti / Chopin / Grieg: Salon Pieces and Encores
Busoni: Late Piano Music
Tchaikovsky: The Seasons (Excerpts) / Rachmaninov: Preludes / Scriabin: Piano Sonata No. 2
İdil Biret Brahms Edition
The Welte Mignon Mystery, Vol. 7
Blackwood, Easley: Radical Piano
The Alkan Project: Carnival, 25 Pieces in Miniature
