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COLIN HORSLEY OBE
New Zealander pianist (1920 - 2012)



Colin Horsley studied with Tobias Matthay and Irene Scharrer at the Royal College of Music.  In addition to being a superb concert pianist, made it a mission in life to play the works of contemporary composers giving many first performances .  He championed the works of Lennox Berkeley, John Ireland whose lovely and almost never performed Piano Concerto can be heard below, Frederick Delius, Sir Edward Elgar, Sir Benjamin Britten, Edmund Rubbra and Sir William Walton among others.

Those of you who are not familiar with Lennox Berkeley have a treat in store in the form of his trio for violin, horn and piano that can be heard below.  Many of Berkeley's works for solo piano are also included, so rarely do we get a chance to hear them, and while I do not find them to be on the level of a number of his contemporarie, some are quite appealing and all are finely crafted.

Colin Horsley's skill as a chamber musician can be fully appreciated in the movement of the Mozart qunitet with which we can begin.



Mozart  Quintet for Piano and Winds in E Major, K 452
with the Dennis Brain Wind Ensemble

recorded in 1954


i
 Lento. Allegro moderato



ii Larghetto



iii Rondo: Allegretto




Mozart  Piano Concerto 14 in E Major, K 449 (excerpts)
Basil Cameron conducting the Philharmonia Orchestra

recorded in 1954




Weber  "Momento Capriccioso" in B major, Op 12

recorded in 1951




Chopin  7 Études

in E minor, Op 10~6*
02:58 ➢ in C major, Op 10~7*
04:36 ➢ in F minor, Op. 25~2
06:23 ➢ in D major, Op 25~8
07:41 ➢ in G major, Op 25~9
08:53 ➢ in G minor. Op 25~6
10:57 ➢ in A minor, Op 25~4

recorded in 1945 (*1951)




Still going strong at 88

Chopin Fantaisie-Impromptu, Op 66




Chopin-Liszt  5 "My Joys"from Polish Songs

recorded in 1951




Liszt  2 "Gnomenreigen" from Two Concert Etudes, S 245
[a comparison in which all are excellent interpretations impeccably performed]

Colin Horsley
03:00 ➢ Eileen Joyce
05:37 ➢ Louis Kentner
08:55 ➢ Frederic Lamond
12:39 ➢ Dinu Lipatti




Bizet-Rachmaninoff  Minuet from "L'Arlesienne"

Sergei Rachmaninoff
02:48Colin Horsley
06:13 ➢ Jorge Bolet
09:00 ➢ Georges Cziffra




Rachmaninoff  Prelude in E minor, Op 32~4

recorded in 1949




John Ireland (1879-1962)  Piano Concerto in E major (1930)
Basil Cameron conducting the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

i In tempo moderato
09:43 ii Lento espressivo
16:57 ➢ iii Allegro giocoso




Stravinsky  Capriccio for Piano and Orchestra
Basil Cameron conducting the London Philharmonic Orchestra

i Presto
ii Andante rapsodico
iii Allegro capriccioso ma tempo giusto

recorded in 1958




Prokofiev  Piano Sonata 3 in A minor, Op 28 (1917)

recorded in 1949



4 Allegretto




Sir Lennox Berkeley (1903-1989)  Impromptu in G minor, Op 7~1




Sir Lennox Berkeley from  Four concert Studies, Op 14

2 in E minor



3 in C minor



4 in F major




Sir Lennox Berkeley  Piano Sonata in A major, Op 20

recorded ca1950


1 Moderato



ii Presto



iii Adagio



iv Introduzione. Allegro




Sir Lennox Berkeley  from Six Preludes, Op 23

recorded ca1950


1 Allegro



2 Andante



3 Allegro moderato



4 Allegretto



5 Allegro



6 Andante




Sir Lennox Berkeley  Scherzo in D major, Op 32~2


 


Sir Lennox Berkeley  Trio for Violin, Horn and Piano, Op 44
with Dennis Brain, horn and Manoug Parikian, violin

recorded prior to 1957 (the year of Dennis Brain's tragic death at the age of 36 in as the result of an automobile accident)


i Allegro



ii Lento



iii Theme and variations




Sir Lennox Berkeley  Concert Study in E major, Op 48~2




For those of you who enjoy murder mysteries, here is my first with a strong musical polemic as background

Murder in the House of the Muse

which is also available as an audiobook.



And this is the more recently published second mystery in the series:

Murder Follows the Muse



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