“Songs for our Times” is the result of a unique collaboration between two leading British contemporary classical music composers, Stuart MacRae and Bernard Hughes, and Nigerian-American poet/lyricist and medical doctor Chinwe D. John. I first encountered Chinwe’s writing in March 2022 when an EP of settings of some of her poems, “Within A Certain Time…
Tag: Divine Art Recordings
BAGATELLES Piano Music by Bernard Hughes
What makes this album truly special is the culmination of many years of collaboration between Bernard Hughes and pianist Matthew Mills, who commissioned and premieres Partita Contrafacta on the disc. The two musicians have been working together for years, resulting in a deep understanding of each other’s artistic vision and an unparalleled ability to bring Hughes’ compositions to life on the piano, which he does masterfully with colour and vigour, humour and warmth.
Duncan Honeybourne brilliantly illuminates the piano music of William Baines
The exceptionally gifted British composer William Baines died on 6 November 1922; he was just 23, yet he left behind a remarkably large body of work, which is celebrated in this new release from pianist Duncan Honeybourne, a long-time champion of Baines’ music. Born in Horbury near Wakefield, Yorkshire, William Baines came from a musical…