KENNETH LEIGHTON (1929-1988): Sonata No. 3, Op. 27, Sonata, Op. 64, 5 Preludes, Winter Scenes.

Description: The three-CD "complete" Leighton piano music set we offered in March of 2006 wasn't quite all of it: the Third Sonata and Winter Scenes are world premiere recordings. The Scenes (1953) are quite neo-romantic (or neo-Impressionistic), depicting "Landscape", "The Wind", "Mist", "Woodsprites", "By the Fireside" and "Snowflakes" before a final "Carol". But in the sonata, from only a year later, shows Leighton under the influence of serial techniques although the melodic lines remain within tonal boundaries while the dissonance and chromaticism mark the work as a significant development in the composer's language. Margaret Fingerhut (piano).