MYKOLA LYSENKO (1842-1912): Piano Music, Vol. 1 - First Rhapsody on Ukrainian Themes: Grand morceau de concert, Op. 8, Chant triste, Op. posth., Album from the Summer of 1902, Op. 41, Nos. 1 "Langueur et l'attente" and No. 3 "Élégie", Album from the Summer of 1900, Op. 37/2 - Chant d'amour, Album from the Summer of 1901, Op. 39/3 - Élégie: La tristesse", Rêverie - Visions of the Past, Op. 13, La rêve (Of Sweet Honey), Nocturnes in B Flat Minor, Op. 9, in C Sharp Minor, Op. 19 and in B Flat "Abschiedsnotturno", Angoisse, Op. posth., Esquisse in the Dorian Mode, Op. posth., 3 Esquisses, Op. posth.

Description: The father of Ukrainian classical music spent much time in the "field", listening to people's folk songs and fashioned his own personal language, marrying western European Romanticism with Ukrainian folk melos. A few of these piano pieces (especially the Nocturnes) are influenced by Chopin and the only large-scale work here, the 14-minute First Rhapsody, is structured similar to Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsodies, but almost all of them are imbued with a resignation, a gentle melancholy and grief which stems from folk music. Many of these pieces are quite memorable and mark Lysenko as a significant melodist. Arthur Greene (piano).