GRIGORY KREIN (1879-1955): Piano Music - 2 poèmes, Op. 5b, 5 préludes, Op. 5a, Prélude, Op. 5, Poème, Op. 16, 2 mazurkas, Op. 19, Cortège mystique, Op. 22, 3 poèmes, Op. 24, Piano Sonata No. 2, Op. 27.

Description: Krein, a member of an astonishing dynasty of Russian-Jewish musician-composers, was recognized by his contemporaries as one of the major composers of his day. His piano music charts a stylistic evolution from the early influence of Grieg, Reger (with whom he studied) and Debussy towards a more complex and chromatic language with harmonies that synthesize the sound-worlds of Scriabin and Szymanowski; there’s also an echo of the rhapsodic Celtic wildness of Bax. Indeed, all of these pieces are informed by a remarkable sense of energy – latent in some and given its head in others. Jonathan Powell (piano).