JÓZEF ELSNER (1769-1854): Harpsichord Sonatas in D, F and B, 7 Polonaises, Rondo a la Mazurek in C, Rondo a la Krakowiak in B.

Description: The first of two volumes of Polish harpsichord music (the second will have nine composers on it), with the music taken from publications by Elsner from 1803 and 1805. Two of the sonatas are in three movements, the other in two, and the music is as conservative as you'd expect from Polish music of this date: almost nothing suggests that this music was intended for anything other than the harpsichord with a bit of Haydn and early Mozart and much galant type writing. The presence of Polish folk elements (not only in the Polonaises and the other dance pieces), however, gives it a special character. Urszula Bartkiewicz (harpsichord).