Amir Farid Performs Traktat Vom Licht: Piano Music Of Raymond Chapman Smith [CD]

Raymond Chapman Smith - Amir Farid Performs Traktat Vom Licht: Piano Music Of Raymond Chapman Smith [CD]

"Light is the vehicle of the community -- of the universe. All that is visible clings to the invisible. That which can be heard to that which cannot -- that which can be felt to that which cannot. Perhaps the thinkable to the unthinkable. Like ourselves, the stars float between illumination and darkening in turn -- but even in the state of darkness we are granted, as they are, a consoling, hopeful glimmer of companion stars that are luminous and illuminated." --Novalis, Traktat vom LichtAmir Farid returns to De la Catessen Records with the premiere recordings of Traktat vom Licht/Variations on a Minuet by Mozart -- the second volume in an ongoing survey of endearingly quixotic piano music by Adelaidean composer Raymond Chapman Smith. In this new collection, following on from 2023's Nachschriften/Ländler (DLC 013CD), pianist Amir Farid sheds further light on a fruitful period of Chapman Smith's work, in which he utters in a uniquely mellifluous voice a beautiful old language recognized by so many but spoken by so few. Chapman Smith's musical journey, through Sydney's experimental scene of the early '70s, to his study with Australian modernist doyen Richard Meale, and his leadership of the notorious ACME New Music through the '90s, has led him to -- of all places -- the green pastures of nineteenth century German romanticism, where he invites listeners to join him in thoughtful spiritual contentedness through the current phase of his craft. The title of Chapman Smith's 26-part Traktat vom Licht is borrowed from a cycle of 26 poetic-scientific-metaphysical fragments by Novalis, a crucial voice in the formulation of the first phase of German Romanticism. Written in 2006 as an acknowledgement of the 250th anniversary of Mozart's birth, Variations on a Minuet by Mozart takes the theme from the first piece in Mozart's catalogue -- his K1, written when he was five years old -- and turns it through a set of twelve variations. 01. Traktat vom Licht: 01. Andante con moto_x000D_ 02. Traktat vom Licht: 02. Allegro assai_x000D_ 03. Traktat vom Licht: 03. Moderato cantabile_x000D_ 04. Traktat vom Licht: 04. Quasi allegretto_x000D_ 05. Traktat vom Licht: 05. Allegro moderato_x000D_ 06. Traktat vom Licht: 06. Allegro, ma non troppo_x000D_ 07. Traktat vom Licht: 07. Allegretto, con moto e cantabile_x000D_ 08. Traktat vom Licht: 08. Molto grazioso_x000D_ 09. Traktat vom Licht: 09. Andante, molto sostenuto_x000D_ 10. Traktat vom Licht: 10. Allegro_x000D_ 11. Traktat vom Licht: 11. Molto moderato_x000D_ 12. Traktat vom Licht: 12. Vivace assai_x000D_ 13. Traktat vom Licht: 13. Poco adagio, espressivo e molto cantabile_x000D_ 14. Traktat vom Licht: 14. Andante sostenuto_x000D_ 15. Traktat vom Licht: 15. Allegro, ma non troppo_x000D_ 16. Traktat vom Licht: 16. Presto_x000D_ 17. Traktat vom Licht: 17. Andantino_x000D_ 18. Traktat vom Licht: 18. Andante, molto espressivo_x000D_ 19. Traktat vom Licht: 19. Vivace, ma non troppo_x000D_ 20. Traktat vom Licht: 20. Adagio, ma non troppo_x000D_ 21. Traktat vom Licht: 21. Allegretto, quasi andante_x000D_ 22. Traktat vom Licht: 22. Allegretto_x000D_ 23. Traktat vom Licht: 23. Allegro assai_x000D_ 24. Traktat vom Licht: 24. Andante cantabile_x000D_ 25. Traktat vom Licht: 25. Quasi allegretto_x000D_ 26. Traktat vom Licht: 26. Andante cantabile e con moto_x000D_ 27. Variations on a Minuet by Mozart: Thema: Tempo di minuetto (Mozart K.1), G Major_x000D_ 28. Variations on a Minuet by Mozart: Var. I Tempo di minuetto, E-flat Major_x000D_ 29. Variations on a Minuet by Mozart: Var. II Allegretto, C minor_x000D_ 30. Variations on a Minuet by Mozart: Var. III Andante sostenuto, A-flat Major_x000D_ 31. Variations on a Minuet by Mozart: Var. IV Presto, F minor_x000D_ 32. Variations on a Minuet by Mozart: Var. V Adagio sostenuto, D-flat Major_x000D_ 33. Variations on a Minuet by Mozart: Var. VI Allegro, ma non troppo, A Major_x000D_ 34. Variations on a Minuet by Mozart: Var. VII Andante, F-sharp minor_x000D_ 35. Variations on a Minuet by Mozart: Var. VIII Vivace, D Major_x000D_ 36. Variations on a Minuet by Mozart: Var. IX Allegretto, B-flat Major_x000D_ 37. Variations on a Minuet by Mozart: Var. X Allegro, G minor_x000D_ 38. Variations on a Minuet by Mozart: Var. XI Larghetto 'For Sarastro', E-flat Major_x000D_ 39. Variations on a Minuet by Mozart: Var XII Allegro molto, G Major (Coda)